Magic in New York
by Crazychicke
Summary: Based on the movie New Year's Eve (2011) with characters from TVD/TO. Dedicated to my friends, Nat and Paris. 'The one night anything is possible.' AU!Humans. Crack!fic. Multiple pairings #Klaroline #Kolami #Tylena #Bamon #Haylope#Jertherine #Haylijah #Freelin #Klayley
1. Magic in New York

**Disclaimer: Not mine, borrowed and nurtured. Based on the NYE movie, because I love it so much. A/N: Dedicated to my dear friends,** **EmisonHeaven** ** & ****theboyfriend-and-theprettygirl** **who inspire me every day with their kindness, love, and support. Thank you for being so amazing, this is for you. Multiple pairings (managed to fit most of our otps as well as crack!ships) Edited: 25/1/2020 – chapters shortened.**

 **Magic in New York**

 **1.**

Rebekah Mikaelson poised her pen against her schedule for the night, as Vice President of the _Times Square Alliance_ , the Ball drop was her responsibility. She had worked towards this her whole life. America relied on her to make The Ball Drop without a glitch. She noted the media swarming her with microphones, cameras and press passes, and glanced at her speech, hoping for courage.

Vincent Griffith, NYC cop and friend, winked from his post, and she smiled, she could do this. She exhaled, cleared her throat and gripped the podium, letting her fear be replaced by hope, each word becoming more and more confident.

"Some people swear there's no beauty left in the world, no magic, then how do you explain the entire world coming together to celebrate the hope of a new year?"

* * *

Camille O'Connell waited on the curb opposite _Ansel's Records_ , hands deep inside her tan-trench coat, as it began to rain. Inside her pocket, she held her bucket list: five years' worth of experiences she'd never been brave enough to complete. Cold rain drops clung to her nose, wads of blond hair stuck to her cheeks, so much for straightening it this morning – it always went frizzy in the rain.

Water gushed down gutters, and umbrellas shook into shape behind her.

Five years as Executive Assistant to the CEO, with no promotion or Christmas bonus received in all that time. Her boss, Wes Maxfield was an ass, yet, she remained loyal, because she believed if she put in the hours, she would one day be rewarded.

Today she was determined to ask for her bonus, or 2 weeks annual leave, no excuses.

Camille stepped onto the road, ahead of the other pedestrians. A taxi sped through a puddle, drenching her work attire – _heck._ Her first instinct was to flick her arms to dispel the water, but somebody bumped her and sent her straight into some garbage bags – _great, just great._

 **"** Are you alright, lady?" a bunch of teenagers asked in passing.

One, with wavy auburn hair and a purple beanie, seemed almost concerned.

A gentleman in a tuxedo and scarf threw out his hand, but Camille shooed him away. She limped into her building for what would be another stressful day at the office, unaware of a courier riding his bicycle through the courtyard, flirting with the ladies on their coffee run; a parcel for her to sign.

* * *

Kol Mikaelson parked his bike behind reception with April, tucking a parcel beneath his arm. He knew the building well and headed across the carpeted floors to the CEO's office, seeing the EA in the chair outside, staple in hand. She never looked him in the eye or spoke to him, but that was expected in Music Production.

He was happy where he was, and when he'd earned enough money, he'd be on his way to better things. At least that's what he told his college roommate, Jeremy Gilbert, who had finished an arts degree, despite being dumped by his girlfriend, and now treated all holidays with disgust. To get him out of his funk, Kol persuaded him to come out and party with him, he clocked off at 9pm.

* * *

Resident, Liam walked the hallways of the hospital with eager couples hanging off his spiel. He wished he was at home, beer in hand, rather than working New Year's Eve, but he needed the money. 'The hospital will donate 25 million dollars to the first couple who has a baby on New Year's Eve. Sign this, and you can't check in 'til tonight,' he recited.

Damon Salvatore turned to his heavily pregnant wife, Bonnie Salvatore, with paperwork and pen in hand. Two girls beneath the age of five hung around his knees, carrying Mr and Mrs Cuddles, bows in their bobs. He kissed Bonnie's forehead, professing, 'We're going to win the money!'

Bonnie sat in the waiting room, one hand on her stomach, the other beckoning her girls to sit, pulling pencils and paper from her overnight bag. Damon smiled. The girls sat down and began to draw. 'Of course, we are,' Bonnie said. 'This baby is due tonight,' she smiled.

Another couple waited, a man in a red and white football jersey, with the number 1, and surname, Lockwood, who held hands with his fiancé, Elena Gilbert.

"'Gilbert' as in Grayson Gilbert? Our surgeon who delivered our daughters?" Bonnie murmured.

"What money?" Tyler asked, intrigued.

He had a scholarship but having access to 25 million dollars could ensure a lifetime of happiness.

" _25 million dollars,"_ Damon repeated. "To the first baby born on New Year's Eve."

Tyler raised his eyebrows at Elena, as if to say, we could be in the running.

Damon noticed. "It's ours," he warned, taking a threatening step forward, teeth clenched.

"Game on," Tyler retorted, snatching up a form.

Elena gasped through her contraction, gripping the chair's arm for comfort.

Nine months had passed and soon they would have a kid running around Mystic Falls. 25 million dollars, and all that stood between them and it, were one couple, Elena gasped. Bonnie had been through the experience twice and remembered how scary it had been the first time. She smiled at Elena, who wiped sweat from her forehead, uncertain.

"Oh, it's on," Elena hissed at Bonnie.

Bonnie bent over her chair to pull a crayon out of her two-year old's mouth.

"What's on?" she asked, confused, scanning the room for a television set.

* * *

Jeremy Gilbert climbed from his bed, hair unkempt, scratching the stubble on his cheeks.

Time stood still, but days had passed into weeks – he knew because his mail had grown from a small wad to a big one, and Kol, must have disturbed it when he'd left that morning, forcing it to become an avalanche of comics, bills and magazines stretching as far as the living room.

His empty beers from his last Netflix binge remained on the table.

The answering machine blinked with new messages, and his cell had 26 missed calls, most of them from numbers he didn't recognise, and 16 from Kol.

 _Jesus Christ._

He moved to the kitchen where he poured himself a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and thought about going back to bed. It had been three months since his girlfriend, Liv Parker dumped him, and maybe he should move on, but he'd put _everything_ into that relationship.

Christmas had come and gone – Elena and her fiancé were due to have their baby, and he should be happy, he _should_ be over the moon to be an uncle, but their happiness irked him because that should have been his life, his future. He was angry Liv left him to follow her dreams, and he took it out on them, he knew he was being a dick, but he couldn't help it.

Love sucked him dry of aspirations until he was an empty shell – he could not draw, he could not move - the sound of Liv's laughter between his pillows as he tickled her rang in his ears; sometimes he could still smell her coconut body wash left on his sheets; her lips ghosted his neck and he buried his anguish in beers until he passed out night after night.

* * *

Reverend Markos Bennett beamed at the couple before him, having read the formalities of the wedding, he added with a bit of flair 'You may give kisses to the misses!' Stefan Salvatore pulled his bride into their first kiss as husband and wife, dipping her, one hand supporting her back, the other grasping her neck – he grinned into the kiss.

Elijah Mikaelson stood as best man to the couple's wedding, and only witness. His black Armani tuxedo and white scarf stuck out like a sore thumb, but Elijah's nobility and wealth weren't in question. He had driven five hours to Pittsburgh from New York – and that was dedication.

"For _Better or For Worse_ , I can see why Stefan's crazy about you," he said to Davina Claire.

Davina beamed, and leaned her head against Stefan's shoulder, white daisies in her hair.

"So, big speech tonight?" Stefan inquired, hugging his wife's waist.

"Yep, been preparing it for a year," Elijah sighed.

"What about that girl? The one you met last year?" Davina remembered.

"She's probably long gone," Elijah pocketed his hands, and left the church, frost biting his nose.

He got into his car and turned on the engine, typing the address into his GPS.

"There's someone out there for you too, go and get her!" Stefan yelled after him.

Elijah rolled his eyes, and accelerated through the snow, skidding on the first corner and crashing his Audi into a barn, scaring the chickens. _Karma was a bitch_. Luckily, Davina called in a favour to have his car fixed by her friend, Aiden, whilst he got a lift back to town from Mr Bennett's distant relatives: Lucy, Bree, Emily, and Jonas.

Elijah didn't care how he got back, as long as they didn't stop. He had planned to keep his business to himself, but Emily Bennett had other ideas. She wanted to hear all about his lost romance, despite Elijah's claims it was in the past.

"Everybody knows, true love stories never end," Emily pressed.

* * *

Caroline Forbes stood overseeing her sous chefs, Matt and Gia, preparing her entrees and mains.

"This is our first A-List party, we cannot mess this up," she warned, tasting her creations and delegating jobs to her other staffers. "Make sure we have all the booze on this list, and that the vegetarian dish only has a small pinch of salt. I want the steak to be medium-rare and remember the cranberry red-wine jus needs to be thinker than normal, I want only the best."

Gia had paid attention to most of Caroline's speech, until her gaze fell on Klaus Mikaelson's trailer out the window - she had a soft spot for musicians. His charming smirk and mischievous blue eyes captured the heart of millions, not just Caroline Forbes' – although she'd deny it now.

"We have Esther Mikaelson to impress, and yes, I'm slightly nervous, but I need this job, and she was kind enough to take me on despite her son leaving me at the altar for his World Tour." Caroline stared at the poster on the kitchen door, then without a flicker of emotion continued on her way.

Gia knew deep down, there was a hole in her heart which only Klaus could fill.

* * *

Klaus Mikaelson was on his last leg of a World Tour which had taken him hostage for the past year. He'd travelled to great cities, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, and met some great people along the way. He strummed his guitar, changing chords and experimenting with lyrics. He'd tried to write new material: apologies to his sweetheart, his _almost_ wife, and let the words roll off his tongue.

 _Sweet Caroline_

 _Good times never seemed so good_

 _Sweet Caroline_

 _I believe they never could_

Regret filled his lungs, and hints of his past life could be seen in photographs.

His daughter, Hope Mikaelson from birth to teen; grown up before his eyes.

His brothers and sisters at various family functions; Rebekah, Elijah and Kol.

Hayley Marshall, his first love, best friend and mother of Hope.

Caroline Forbes, and her smile which lit up the room.

 _Sweet Caroline_

* * *

Kol's phone rang as he climbed a flight of stairs. He answered, hearing Jeremy's fake apology.

"Come on, Jeremy, it's midnight on NYE! We're obligated to do something! Don't be such a grump! I'm going to find something so epic that you won't be able to say no!" Kol hung up before his best friend could argue and noticed Wes Maxfield's EA squinting at a list raised above her nose.

"Working on those resolutions, huh?" Kol asked, causing Camille to stuff it beneath a pile of invoices.

"No!" she sounded affronted.

"Okay," Kol changed the subject. "I have a package for Wes-."

Camille cut him off. "Do you work here?" she shot, making Kol sigh.

He saw suspicion in her narrowed eyes. "No, I've been delivering packages here for about a year, think this is the first time you've ever looked me in the eye." Camille took the package and opened it with a pretty serious letter opener that made Kol take a few steps back, in case she decided to use it on him.

She pulled out two square cards without even a glimmer of excitement.

"Wow! The Gala Ball! That's a hot ticket! It's amazing. They got the best food, the best music. They got so many single girls _and it's a masquerade_ , so you don't even have to really worry about their faces. You kind of just, you know, use your **,** I'd give my left b- well, maybe next year." Kol trailed off into nothingness when Camille returned his digital signature pad to his chest.

She put the two invites into her in-tray.

The courier looked disappointed, but bid her a good night, and left to deliver his next parcel.

* * *

Riley Flanigan, a boy of fifteen, with a charming smile, walked up to Hope, eyes sparkling.

"Hi Hope, you good? Good. I'm going to see you at the Ball drop, right?" he asked.

They'd exchanged looks all year, and hung out to study, but this was a big deal, it was New Years, and everybody knew what happened when the Ball dropped at midnight.

"Hi, yeah," Hope beamed, hearing Lizzie and Josie giggling at their Waffle House table.

Hope waved Riley and his friends off and sat down to finish studying.

"You're so going to kiss Riley tonight!" Josie grinned, applying cherry chapstick.

"I know how to kiss, it's not a big deal," Hope answered, butterflies in her stomach.

"What about your mum, what's she doing?" Lizzie asked, twirling her hair between her fingers.

Hope sighed, "Probably getting ready for a night in, watching the Ball Drop."

Josie returned to her books, "Good luck," she said, as Hope thought of an excuse.

* * *

"Anyone who can, please help Matt and Gia unload the truck?" Caroline called, crossing things from her list. There were only a few crates worth of champagne and flutes, and then she'd concentrate on finishing the dishes and preparing the truffles.

"Hey," Klaus had entered her kitchen, a smirk plastered on his face, like in the poster hanging above the kitchen door. It was uncanny. "It's good to see you, Caroline!"

 _How dare he walk back into her life._

"Get out," Caroline warned, anger bubbling in her chest and veins.

"I needed to see you, needed to explain, since you never took my calls," he began.

Caroline gripped the bench to steady herself from flying at him like a possessed being, memories of their last encounter fresh in her mind. She had been in agony when he left her for his World Tour – how could he expect her after everything, to just resume where they'd left off?

"You walked out on me, Klaus! You chose your music career over your own wife! You don't get to do this to me on the biggest night of my career. Get out."

Klaus did not, as Caroline wished, disappear from her life, like he had a year ago. Instead, he raised his hands in some 'hear me out' position and ignored her warning.

"I tried to call you, you never called me back! I left you tickets, you never showed up." He was only a metre away, and Caroline felt hot tears burning her mascara clad eyelashes. "Talk to me, dammit, just talk to me. How can I fix this, us?" he pleaded.

She raised her head, tears dripping freely now, and clenched her jaw, hearing him out, but only to reject his claims of forgiveness. She had suffered, and now, no more.

 _Never again._

"What, because it's New Year's Eve, you want another shot at it? You walked out on me, Klaus, I think that says it all. You know, I didn't even get to make you dinner, or unpack the groceries." Caroline shook her head and left, the capsicum rolled from the bench, forgotten in her escape.

* * *

Hayley Marshall sewed Victorian costumes ready for _Broadway_ , deep in her memories. Hope wasn't a baby, she knew that, but it didn't make things any easier on her. It didn't matter what age Hope would be, as her mother she'd always worry. She'd noticed Riley carrying Hope's books, walking her home, and maybe it was because of Hope's father, but she didn't want her daughter to make the same mistakes she had.

Klaus Mikaelson was the ultimate bad boy – he was charming, a musician, and literally a _bastard_.

He was the reason his family were on the outs.

Esther Mikaelson, sole owner of _Ansel's Records_ , had left Klaus' father 15 years ago on domestic abuse claims. Later, lawyers discovered a secret: an affair with CEO, Ansel Lycanthrope, resulting in Klaus' true identity. Mikael, in a rage, shot and killed Ansel, and plead guilty to murder. The Mikaelsons were forever altered: some left town, and others started anew.

Hayley had a soft spot for wounded souls - too much Pinot Noir, and a home cooked meal, resulted in a teen pregnancy. Being pregnant at 17, meant not finishing high school, but she had no regrets – that drunk one-night stand gave her Hope, and a family, even with all the drama.

Just because things didn't work out between her and Klaus, didn't mean they lost touch, strangely, they grew closer and even became friends.

Her love life was non-existent, she had Hope to raise, not to mention a career in Fashion. She would call Klaus now and then, just to listen to his dreams and fears, and offer her advice. They would reminisce about the past, about how their families abandoned them, but mostly, talk about Hope.

It wasn't until Hope's 14th birthday, that Hayley met someone, someone she'd never in a thousand years thought she'd have feelings for. It just happened, completely out of the blue. They'd met, in downtown Brooklyn, at a Jazz bar, and shared a pizza and champagne. He was dressed in a leather jacket and jeans, hair askew, that familiar charming grin mesmerizing her.

Like Klaus, he was musically gifted, playing some jazz piece on piano, like Sam from _Casablanca._ ('Play it again, Sam'). The music lifted her spirits after a stressful day. That night she wasn't Hope's mother, she was whomever she wanted to be. _Ingrid Bergman, requesting as time goes by…_ But he and Klaus hadn't spoken in more than a decade, and he was still Hope's Uncle.

 _It was complicated._

Maybe all they both needed was to let go of the past.

Hayley pricked her finger with the needle and sucked the blood from her finger.

"Hope spent last New Years on tour with her dad, so it'll be just us watching _It's a Wonderful Life_ and pigging out on jellybeans and pop-tarts," she explained to Keelin, who sat darning a pair of plus fours. "You?" she asked her friend.

"Same, you know, Freya, she'll finish her shift at the hospital and want a long bath, I'll probably be asleep on the couch by the time she comes home," Keelin joked.

Hayley smiled, "Well there's always room for you at ours, if you don't mind pop-tarts and a slobber from our Wolfhound, Sherlock," Hayley laughed, as Keelin contemplated the idea.

* * *

Rebekah heard voices inside her ear-piece. Planning the NYC ball drop was stressful because there was a new mayor to please. This one drove around in Limos, and smelled like French Perfume, still, Rebekah had promised everything would go to plan.

"Don't just dump them! Float them in the wind! They should be magical," she yelled into her microphone as she supervised the release of confetti. She had been on the go all day, havingcompleted a television interview and realized she had worn the wrong shoes.

"Vincent," Rebekah hugged her friend. "Thought you were with your family tonight?" she smiled.

"I knew you needed me," he squeezed her. "I made you a coffee and saved you a donut."

She stepped out of their hug and took a grateful sip from the steaming mug.

"Thank you, what would I do without you?" she whispered.

"I don't know, but I do know tonight will be brilliant!" Vincent smiled.

Rebekah held the mug in both hands, warming herself.

"I hope so, because my job is on the line."

She had bitten into the cinnamon donut when a car pulled alongside her with tinted black windows and engine humming. The window opened, revealing the mayor, dark-hair in a pony-tail, with vibrant red lipstick, and wineglass in hand. She wore a black, tailored suit, and gave Rebekah chills when she spoke in a terse voice:

"Miss Mikaelson, I do hope you realise how important this night is, for the both of us," she said, "If everything goes to plan, you could progress onwards as my personal assistant, if not, I will ensure you will never work in New York again. I suppose you should be told, Lorenzo St. John, the creator and designer of this year's ball, has been fired, any questions relating to the function of the 3000 lightbulbs will now fall to you. Do not fail me," Isobel Saltzman warned.

Rebekah lifted her chin, a smile planted firmly on her face – why Enzo had been fired, she was not given the luxury of knowing, however, she would not cave to the pressure. Tonight, would be the best New Year's ever, and not because Isobel was mayor, but because tonight Rebekah had magic on her side.

 **A/N: Please review.**


	2. Ch-Ch-Changes

**Disclaimer: Borrowed and nurtured from the writers of NYE movie and TVD. A/N: Edited as per feedback from readers.**

 **Ch-Ch-Changes**

 **2.**

Camille perused the internet, stopping her mouse on a bungalow in Mystic Falls.

Pulling open her desk drawer, she pulled out an envelope, and smiled - having bought herself a ticket to the retreat in advance. The phone had not rung in ten minutes. She made a face, shut her drawer with her knee, and hid the envelope beneath her keyboard. She stood up and knocked on her Mr Maxfield's door, hoping to get an end of year bonus.

He had the television on in the background, a woman in her mid-twenties was being interviewed about the Ball drop wearing a navy pin-striped suit, and joggers. Mr Maxfield barely lifted his head and continued to stare at his computer screen. She thought he must be writing an important email, it didn't occur to her, he was playing solitaire and hadn't even thought of writing her a cheque.

Camille brought up the bonus, who scribbled an amount for her - but sadly, it was nothing like she expected, and the devastation at such a tiny amount hit her hard. It took a few minutes before she regained her voice.

"You see, sir, I already booked a two-week vacation..." Camille whispered.

"Two weeks! I can't do without you for two weeks! You can take one week," he exclaimed.

"I almost died today, sir." Camille looked over the portraits on his walls, the Mikaelson family.

She'd been in that office constantly delivering mail, filing and editing contracts – the more she studied them, realization dawned. She had met two of them, Elijah Mikaelson, the gentleman who offered her his hand only that morning, and the courier who had been so keen to win her tickets to the ball – she'd never taken the time to see what was truly in front of her.

She had been so self-absorbed with her deteriorating life that real life had passed her by.

She stared at the cheque in her trembling hands and decided to put herself first for once.

"Well, in that case, sir. I quit." Camille ripped up the cheque, feeling rebellious.

"You're not quitting, you can't, I need you. Get me a coffee?"

Camille didn't answer, disorientated and suffocating from being underappreciated.

The phone rang. She told them to hold, then threw the phone across the room - it was exhilarating. She unplugged it, packed her stapler into an empty box, and picked up the two tickets Kol Mikaelson had been so excited about – she glanced at her list and read the first one: Quit my job.

She grabbed her envelope, and walked out, carrying her bag tightly against her chest.

April, at the front desk, had already left for the night.

* * *

Caroline pelted tomatoes at the poster of Klaus on the kitchen door, each splat gave her a small amount of satisfaction. A twinge in the back of her mind bugged her, reminding her she was wasting a perfectly ripe piece of fruit – but the need to let go of her pent-up anger was stronger.

"I hated him for leaving me like that! And then he just shows up on the biggest night of my career, what kind of karma is that?" Matt ducked whilst whipping a mousse in the crook of his arm as Gia handed Caroline the tomatoes one by one.

"You're in love with Klaus, or that you're throwing the biggest party in the city?"

"ARGH!" Caroline threw a handful of tomatoes at his smirking poster.

"Can I do one?" Gia pointed at the eggs, minding their own business. "Are they expensive eggs?"

"They feel good," Caroline said, pulling hair from her mouth.

SPLAT.

Gia grimaced, and Matt resumed his standing position by the bench, with some relief.

"Oh, that was a terrible throw," Caroline said, whilst Gia laughed.

* * *

"Hold the elevator!" A 17-year-old girl with dark wavy hair, red lipstick and coat dashed into the lift.

"I'm going down," Jeremy grunted.

"Me too," she gazed at the decorations in his hands with a distracted look.

"Yeah, I tore down the decorations, violating lease," he explained, following her gaze.

"Not my decorations," the girl pushed the down button repeatedly.

"Hey, you're the new girl from 5B?" Jeremy noticed, dropping the decorations into a garbage bag.

The elevator was one of those vintage ones with a grate between the doors. It had only just pinged when suddenly the elevator made a crank noise and froze. He was used to it, the elevator was built in the 1800s, and he had nowhere to be, but the girl was, just like everybody else, on her way to celebrate, no doubt.

"No, no, no, no, this can't be happening, I have somewhere to be!" she pulled out her cell.

"Doesn't work. No reception," Jeremy pointed to his useless phone from his pocket.

"How are you not more panicked right now?" she demanded, grabbing the elevator phone. "Hello, this is 5B, I'm stuck in this elevator, I'm going to be late for work!" she yelled into the receiver.

Jeremy smirked, suddenly his night had gotten a lot more interesting.

* * *

Freya Mikaelson stood in the ward, with Elena and Tyler, discussing their birth-plans.

"Labor could be any day now, will you be having a natural childbirth, or hypno-birth?"

Tyler and Elena exchanged agreed upon looks.

"We were both thinking we could slot in a c-section?" Tyler suggested.

"-Like tonight-ish?" Elena suggested.

Freya sighed, seeing through their urgency, she was not stupid. "I will not schedule a c-section so you can win the 25 thousand dollars. The couple before you wanted to split the money, 50/50."

Tyler interjected, "What about 70/30?" Elena put a defeated hand on her fiancé's arm.

"You are close to a rectal exam," Freya warned.

* * *

Hayley Mikaelson descended the stairs of the train station, with Hope in tow.

The subject of attending the Ball Drop, had arisen, and Hayley attempted to persuade her daughter to stay in, with her, and not attend the crowded square.

"I'm just not comfortable in allowing you to stay in Time Square alone, I'm sorry, end of-."

Hope let out a frustrated growl, "-discussion, I know!" she stopped on the stairwell, fingers on the seam of her singlet-top. "I'm fifteen, this is not a training bra!" she raised her shirt, flashing everyone passing by and receiving wolf whistles.

"-Hope!' Hayley hissed, worried for her daughter's sanity as well as safety.

"Look mum, the world doesn't scare me, I want to start living in it, you used to!"

The distance between mother and daughter grew like a train leaving a platform.

Hope was right, Hayley was scared, scared of change.

* * *

Mikael lay in the hospital with a scratchy blanket pulled up to his chin. His doctor, Meredith Fell had checked his vitals and made sure he was comfortable, knowing he didn't have long to live. She poured him a glass of water, leaving it on the swivel table to the side of his bed.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything, Mikael?"

The frail man's eyes brightened in response.

"I've been hanging on, so I can see the ball drop one more time." Meredith hastened to turn on the television. "I want to watch it outside, please-"

She sighed. "-I'm sorry, it's against hospital policy to allow anyone on the roof." Mikael rolled over onto his side, falling silent. "Just call out if you need anything, or press the buzzer by your bed, okay?" she heard a muffled grunt, and closed his door, bumping into another nurse.

"How's he doing?" Sara asked, playing with her hair-tie on her wrist.

"I'm not sure he'll make it through the night," Meredith sighed. "Doing anything special tonight?"

"I have a date after my shift," Sara admitted.

"Promise me, you'll check on Mikael periodically through the night? I'm sure he'd enjoy the

company." Sara nodded and went to make them some tea to get them through the next few hours.

* * *

"You just promise me you make it to your date before midnight," Vincent reminded her.

Rebekah gripped her pen, shaking her head.

"I should never have told you that." Rebekah continued to mumble. "He won't even remember."

Vincent raised his eyes to the sky and saw the 3000 flashing coloured balls of light above.

"Don't you owe it to yourself, to try?" he shrugged, the voice of reason.

Rebekah heard a clunk, then several of the lights sizzled and turned off.

 _The ball had stopped moving._

"No, no, no! What is that? This can't be happening."

As she rushed off in the other direction, Vincent yelled after her.

"You'll fix it, you always do!" Then he pulled out a pack of cards, overturned an empty garbage bin, and invited his sergeant, Diego, to a game of 'Go Fish', knowing Rebekah would make things right again.

 **A/N: This is such a crack!y fic, I'm developing new otps as I type. I'm rewatching TVD and soon TO, so I HAVE FEELS. This fic has been in the back of my mind for years. Nat – I'm having so much fun writing this, can you tell? Paris – enjoy Tylena asdfghjkl! To my other readers – who's your fav ship so far? If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. It's up there with Love Actually x**


	3. New Resolutions

**Disclaimer: Not mine, borrowed and nurtured. A/N: SL tweaked a little. Edited: 25/1/2020.**

 **New Resolutions**

 **3.**

Kol Mikaelson who had received a call earlier that morning, slipped off his bicycle and met a Camille on the steps of the courtyard the next day.

"Miss O'Connell? Did you call for a delivery?" he removed his helmet and hung it off the handle-bars.

"You can call me Cami, and actually, I'm your next job," she then blurted, "I bought you for the day!"

Kol's eyebrows poised towards the sky.

"You bought me? Oh, Miss O'Con-Cami," Camille saw his cocky grin emerge. "I know I should be offended but I'm too intrigued," he said.

That's what she'd counted on, his innate curiosity.

"My resolutions - I already crossed off the first thing. if you can help make the rest of these come true by midnight, you get these two Gala tickets."

Kol leaned forwards to hold the tickets, as though they were a bar of gold.

"Holy sh-woah! Put those down, don't flash them around, everyone can see..." Kol pulled her hands down. "Ok, I'm in, but I don't understand what you want _me_ to do?"

Kol looked at the crumbled piece of paper in her other fist and read the six things written down. His heart thumped in anticipation of receiving tickets to the biggest event of the night – he wanted this, but the list confused him, it was physically impossible to do everything she'd listed in one day.

Camille's expression almost broke his heart, as she wrapped her trench-coat tighter around her body, and she said. "I want you to use your imagination."

Kol looked back at the list, taking in each request, one at a time.

 _Quit my job._

 _Breakfast at Tiffany's_

 _Ferry Ride_

 _Go to Bali_

 _Save a Life_

 _Be Amazed_

 _Midnight kiss_

How he was going to pull them all off he had no-idea but at least he had incentive. Kol and Camille set out on their adventure on his scooter about thirty minutes later. Camille sat with her legs side-saddle, gripping the bike's rear instead of hanging on like a normal person.

"You don't have to sit like that, you know, you can put your legs or arms around me?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Camille stuttered.

Kol decided not to press her, instead skirting between traffic and thinking of ideas for _Tiffany's._

He'd never have thought he'd be spending his time on some charity case on New Year's Eve, but still, he liked a challenge, and he wasn't a quitter.

He decided to cross off two things at once, a _ferry ride_ to _Tiffany's._

Camille didn't seem to mind, and he smirked when she pressed her nose against the glass and gushed at the expensive jewellery. He ordered coffees and a pastry from a nearby vendor to have for breakfast.

"Cheers!" he said, to a grateful Camille.

He dragged her from the show window, tossed their empty coffees into a bin and persuaded her to follow him down a deserted alleyway where he rapped his knuckles against a graffiti-covered roller door.

* * *

Gia handed Klaus enchiladas as he did his sound check in Ansel's Records. She felt pity on him, she couldn't help it. It was those eyes, that hair, and black leather jacket – he was a rock star. Matt had warned her not to meddle in Caroline's affairs, but it was New Year's Eve, and anything was possible.

"Excuse me, Mr Mikaelson, I've brought you enchiladas, they're a bit spicy, but I remembered, they were your favourite snack?" Gia began.

Klaus unpacked the wrapping and bit into one, the cheese and chicken juice dribbled down his chin. He wiped it with his calloused fingers and smiled, with a nod of approval.

Gia almost curtseyed in reply, but stopped herself short, fiddling with the buttons on her uniform.

"Actually, Gia, I was hoping you could help me with something?"

Gia pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket.

"Is it writer's block, because I have some lyrics, they're in Hindi now, but I can translate them-"

Klaus stood up from his stool, put the enchiladas down and wiped his fingers on a serviette.

"Come here," Klaus indicated she come towards him.

Gia's involuntary gasp reached his ears and he realised his mistake.

"No, not like that, stand there. I need you to help me convince Caroline that I made a mistake."

Gia looked perplexed.

"When? When you proposed to her or left her at the Altar? You really hurt her." Gia had helped console Caroline afterwards, they'd met during Culinary school a few years ago.

Klaus sighed, "I know, and it's been my biggest regret. I proposed in Paris, and we returned home to be married, but then, I got cold feet, everything came around too fast, the wedding, the tour…and I didn't want to deal with it."

"That's horrible! In my country when a man gets on one knee, he's either proposing, or he's shot. Sometimes it's been because of both." Gia stared at her nails.

Klaus shook his head to shake the image from his mind.

"No, look, I returned to tell her my life has been Hell without her – I couldn't sleep, eat or write, and when I reached out and received no reply, I picked New York as my final destination, in a hope Caroline would forgive me, and we could start a-new."

"You should talk to her, that's what women like, _we like to talk_!" Gia encouraged with hand gestures.

Klaus furrowed his brow and thinned his lips as though the concept was foreign to him.

"I tried, I just can't get a word in edge wise between arguments," he sounded exasperated.

Caroline wiped her hands on her apron, spotting Gia speaking with her bastard of an ex.

"Do you want to know what I think?" Gia hadn't noticed her yet.

"Sure," Klaus admitted, hanging onto some fantasy Caroline still had feelings for him.

Caroline interrupted them before Gia could reveal Caroline's darkest truths.

"This is not what it looks like," Gia said, pointing back and forth between Klaus and Caroline.

Caroline raised her eyebrows, seeing through her misguided attempts to fix their relationship.

"It's not my ex-fiancé telling my new sous chef our whole sob story?" she queried, crossing her arms.

Klaus sighed, "Fine, but don't blame Gia, she just wanted to help me."

Gia held onto her arms like a hopeless teenager.

"Stay strong, don't look into his eyes, they're so mesmerising," she darted back to the kitchen.

Caroline chewed her lip and crossed her arms, Gia knew she'd follow, maybe she was ingenious, because now she'd done what she'd tried not to do all night – she was in close proximity with Klaus, and despite the hate she felt for him, she hated herself for that tiniest amount of love she still felt – he had once been worthy of her love, and seeing him with that apologetic expression only propelled her through memories she'd tried to erase in the last year.

"I know you're upset..." he began.

"I have nothing more to say to you," Caroline avoided his stare.

"Look at me, just look at me, love," he said, touching her arm.

Caroline frowned, spilling her darkest thoughts.

"I've been contemplating it all year, how I should have slapped you across the face for leaving me like that, but I've a Gala Dinner to get through, and I need my hands, but yeah, it's been a year, and I'm a different person to the one you almost married a year ago. I've moved on, and so should you."

Klaus listened to her spiel, but he wasn't about to give up on her.

"Friends, then?" a glimmer of hope in his smile. "Did you hear the new album?" he asked.

Caroline sighed, yes, she'd heard a few songs on the radio, before changing the channel to avoid listening to his charming, manipulative, lying ass. She decided to answer, politely.

"I wanted to hate it, I really did, but I loved it. I thought it was great, except the picture you chose for the cover – that I hated," she confessed. "You used a little too much bronzer!"

Klaus chuckled, her laughter warmed his heart and soul, he finally felt at home.

"Well, as always, I could have used your help," Klaus entered her personal space.

"I'm a little overwhelmed and frazzled by this job at the moment," Caroline made an excuse to leave.

"I'm sorry I ran, Caroline," Klaus murmured, a year too late.

Caroline smiled wryly.

"Oh Klaus, you sprinted," the pain was still fresh in her mind, unable to be forgotten.

She was gratingly aware of the cameras and press who began to encircle them, and loneliness flooded back to her – they were being separated again by their vastly different lives.

"We could fix this, us, it's not too late, Caroline," Klaus pleaded.

"Sure, I'll pack a bag, meet you on the bus?" she joked. "Seriously? I can't just pack a bag and go on tour with you. I did your life, Klaus. I have a life now, and I'm not ready to give that up, even for you," Caroline shrugged, flattening her apron.

Klaus took a step into her personal space.

"I'm ready to commit. I've missed you, Caroline," he confessed.

He wasn't going to let her go, but she needed him to.

"Yeah, me too, I'm ready to commit to what I really love, my work. I can't do this anymore, Klaus.

You have your tour, and I have my career. Maybe that's how our love story was meant to end?"

Caroline pressed her palm against his cheek to say goodbye, but like Gia had warned, it was his eyes that sucked her in. His forehead pressed gently against hers, and their noses touched, soon her lips parted, and they'd shared one final kiss.

"Goodbye, Klaus," she whispered, and then she was gone.

* * *

Katherine Pierce sat on the bench in what could very well be her tomb, rubbing charms between her forefinger and thumb from her bracelet out of sheer panic. Her breaths had become shallow to save oxygen and she kept staring at the grate, every now and then hoping to see or hear some kind of electrician – but it was New Year's Eve and the whole building was practically deserted.

They might not even look for them until morning… she glanced at the boy, casually stretched out across the opposite bench, confused by his demeanour – he was dressed in striped pajamas, unshaven, possible even homeless. He'd been staring at his phone for the last few minutes, a bag of torn down Christmas decorations by his feet.

"Still no reception," Jeremy muttered, tapping his phone screen.

Time might go faster if she engaged in conversation, so she gave it a try.

"How do you have nowhere to be? It's the biggest party the world celebrates – it's magical!"

Jeremy sighed, he knew it was coming.

"It's like the worst night to go out. People who don't drink or don't go out, suddenly do and it becomes a warzone down there!" he replied.

Katherine rolled her eyes.

"That's because they have something to be excited about, I have _something_ to be excited about."

Jeremy rose from his seat, stretched his hands to the ceiling and swung on the wire netting above.

"Oh, you mean, 'who are you going to kiss at midnight?' Everyone builds up such high expectations, then it's a big letdown and everyone's utterly disappointed. Why put yourself through that? Trust me when I tell you, it's not worth your damn time," he explained.

Katherine had stopped listening, eyes locked on the hatch above them – a way out!

"Can you get through that hatch?" she hissed, pointing above his head.

"I am not spider man," Jeremy replied, clapping his hands together like a bored four-year-old.

Katherine undid her coat, tossing it to the floor. "Clearly," she grimaced. "I am just going to crawl through that hatch and then I am going to be out of here – I am going to do it," she flattened her dress and raised her arms: "Lift me up, lift me up, I don't have all day!" she hissed.

Jeremy swaggered over. "You're kind of bossy!" he noted.

Katherine gritted her teeth in annoyance, but soon she was flying towards the hatch, fingers searching for the latch in anticipation, with Jeremy's arms around her thighs.

"Nope, I can't get it, oh wait, I think I have a nail file, yes, I'll file the lock down," she piped up.

Jeremy's face was pressed against something plastic, a lanyard of some kind, he moved his head back a bit to read the words on the tag. _Klaus Mikaelson, World Tour._ Katherine's personality and excitement to get to her job clicked in his mind – 'Ugh, you're a groupie for that Mikaelson, rock star?'

Katherine bit back her retort, "Put me down."

Jeremy was only too happy to oblige.

* * *

Hayley walked with Hope from the shops for their usual snacks, the walk was quiet, and there was tension in the air, still, after Hope agreed to stay home. Hayley wasn't trying to ruin her daughter's life, but somehow, she had become the big bad wolf in her daughter's fairy tale, and it sucked. She wished for advice from Klaus, but he was on tour, and his cell went to voicemail.

She had almost forgotten her promise to Elijah and doubted whether she'd meet him again - things were so messed up with her and Hope, she'd rather spend time with her.

Hope spotted her friends waiting at the bus stop on the opposite corner.

"Mum, can I go tell my friends?" she asked, glumly.

"Sure," Hayley smiled, waiting on the curb with their sweets for the Ball Drop.

Hope noticed Lizzie and Josie's looks of interest, then Riley whose eyes warmed and nose turned pink, as they always did when she appeared before him. She felt her heart race at the thought of telling him she was banned from going.

"Hey," Riley's smile made her heart skip a beat.

Hope curled her hair behind her ear with her gloved hand.

"Hey, um, I can't go, I'm sorry."

"What? But half our history class is going?" Riley piped up.

"I know, it's just my mum won't let me. I sound like I'm twelve."

"Maybe I can, you know, convince her?" Riley suggested.

"I mean, sure, you can try, but-" Hope shrugged.

"It's Mrs Marshall, she's so scary," Josie whispered, blowing air into her gloves.

Lizzie nodded, one arm tucked into her sister's crooked elbow.

Riley shooed their concerns and put a bounce in his step.

"Hi, Mrs Marshall," Riley pocketed his hands, "You look lovely today-"

Hayley was ready for anything, her mind would not change, not even for a mini Klaus Mikaelson.

"Hi Riley, you look like a _nice_ boy, but I'm not comfortable with my daughter going out unsupervised," Hayley shrugged, like nothing he said would persuade her.

"With all due respect, supervision is for kids, we're young adults," he grinned.

Hayley raised her cell, looking through her contacts.

"Who are you calling?" Riley's confidence began to shatter.

"You're Sophie Deveraux's son? Yeah, we served together in the School canteen, is she home?"

Riley's face fell and turned pale.

"Nah, I think she… went out," he mumbled.

"Mm, Happy New Year," Hayley put away her cell, giving Hope a few minutes to say goodbye.

Riley gave Hope a tortured expression.

"I tried, but she fights dirty!" Josie and Lizzie caught his gaze and whispered 'told you so' before boarding the bus without her.

Guess she really was spending New Year's with her mum, Hope thought.

"Yeah, welcome to my world," Hope muttered.

Riley squeezed her arm and mouthed 'I'm sorry,' then hurried after the twins for the bus.

Resigned to be a spinster her whole life, Hope took the bag of sweets from Hayley.

Everyone else would be having the time of their lives, and she'd have a sugar hangover, with only Sherlock to kiss at midnight. _Life was so unfair._

What really got Hope down, wasn't the dangers of Times Square at night, Hayley had taught her to defend herself at age 5. Hayley had inspired her, and protected her, but falling pregnant at 17 meant her mum gave up her childhood to give Hope the best life possible, and she was grateful, but she wanted to make her own mistakes now, she wanted to be independent.

"Come on Hope, before we miss the start of the Ball Drop," Hayley took her hand.

 _She needed to break free,_ Hope thought _._

* * *

Kol walked down an alley, with Camille muttering 'Is it safe?' every few seconds.

"'Give Kol a chance' should be on your resolutions list. _Give Kol a chance_!" he sang the phrase over, making Camille frown. He stopped at a sketchy roller door, like it led to either an old storage unit or garage, or the entrance to the Irish Mafia, Camille thought.

"This is a bad idea, I'll give you the tickets," she rambled, paranoid somebody might knife them.

Her mind wandered to the portraits she'd seen on the walls of Maxfield's office. Maybe she'd been too trusting of Kol Mikaelson – maybe he was the ring leader to some illegal cult and that's why he masqueraded as a courier to lure naïve women into drug dealing or worse?

Maybe if she crossed through this door, she'd never leave it alive?

She blurted the first thing that came to her unravelling mind, damn the consequences.

"I don't know what happened between you and your family, but you should know, I have a black belt in karate!" she eyed him with her most threatening look and balled her fists in her trench coat.

Kol held onto the roller door and sighed, he'd come that far without emptying his soul, but he'd come to terms years ago, he would always be a Mikaelson – just nothing like his father.

"Oh – you heard that, huh? Well, I can't atone for the fact that my father's a murderer, I detached myself as much as I can from the Mikaelson name, quit the family business, went to college and was known as Kol Marshall, but it wasn't until my sister reminded me, not all of us Mikaelsons were horrible, and we shouldn't be unfairly treated because of our surname," Kol scratched his stubble.

"Fifteen years ago, I was only a kid, and I didn't know Ansel that well, he was just a family friend – his murder changed our family, it tore us apart. I left to escape the drama, but, sometimes, I feel like I'll never escape the darkness, that's why I'm always joking, always trying to see the 'glass half full' because it's easier to deflect the pain that way," Kol confessed.

Camille hadn't heard his side of the story, just read a tiny column in the New York Times. She felt silly to have accused him of being someone he was not. He was just caught up in a world of hate and despair like the rest of them.

Camille had lost her twin some years ago to schizophrenia and had to live with the fact that he'd been involved in a murder-suicide, and the pain had been unbearable. She hadn't just lost her brother, Sean, she'd lost her Uncle Kieran, and nine other innocents whose blood was spilt in St Anne's Church. She understood what it felt like to have a family torn apart by one horrible secret.

Kol studied her tortured expression with some forgiveness.

"I'm not an axe-murderer, I'm just someone who's trying to survive this mad world," he pressed.

Camille nodded, relaxed her fists, and took a deep breath, settling her nerves.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Kol shrugged, "I've survived 15 years without them, and it's the best decision I've ever made. Look, I know, it's not exactly paradise, but you asked for Bali - and this is the best thing I can think of at such short notice," he invited Camille inside the roller door.

Camille raised her chin, standing tall, she had promised herself never to let fear destroy her life. She would live her life for both her and Sean – she stepped inside.

"Close your eyes," Kol murmured, pulling her inside. "Now, open."

Steam rose from the boardwalk, lanterns shone a path through palms, and Camille let the gentle lull of meditation music and the call of birds, call her forwards. The space was similar to a large warehouse and it resembled pictures online; Kol had found the perfect place for her to unwind.

"It's Bali," she breathed, feeling her muscles relax almost immediately.

Kol grinned, crossing another item of her list and shoving the paper inside his pocket.

"It's Brooklyn, and a Spa," he added.

Camille could barely manage a thank you, but Kol found her speechlessness cute, and offered his arm, taking her to her personal masseuse. While she received the full body massage, he settled the bill and spoke with Katie, a college classmate. When Camille stood again, she was a new person, revived, cheeks tainted with life, and eyes shining with a new lease on life.

"The way they can loosen every muscle in my body, amazing, I really needed that," she smiled.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself, now pick up the pace, we've got a life to save," he clicked his fingers.

Camille hurried after him, not even a little scared to be riding his scooter, maybe she'd even drive.

* * *

Elena sat in the waiting room regretting the decision to induce labour, Tyler had googled some ideas online which included swallowing a tin of anchovies, a delicacy she'd fed her cats, not herself. The smell was intoxicating, and it didn't help if she pinched her nostrils shut. Tyler had gone to ask the nurse for a room, but nobody believed they needed one yet.

"Come on bub, its 25 million dollars, imagine what your nursery would look like?" Elena hissed, brushing her hand over her stomach, smoothing the fabric of her cotton dress.

Tyler arrived with Nurse Freya. "Okay fine, we weren't ready, but she's eating anchovies and they induce labour, read it on the internet," he said, pointing to Elena.

"If only you can keep it down," Elena gagged on the anchovy resting on her tongue and spat the salty fish into a wastepaper bucket Liam held for her. She eagerly took Freya's cup of filtered water, gulping it down to wash away the taste.

Freya suggested they go home and come back later, preferably when she was actually in labour.

"Sorry," Tyler kissed Elena's forehead, and sat beside her.

"I can't do it anymore," Elena shivered.

"You need a breath mint," Tyler suggested, searching their overnight bag.

* * *

Damon and Bonnie Salvatore walked in from the lift, and called out to Sara, who had just clocked in.

"Hey Sara, we are ready to check in now," Damon said.

Bonnie was practicing her breathing between contractions.

"They're checking in?" Elena sounded somewhat jealous.

Tyler decided to be the better man, and nodded at Damon, "Hey, good to see you again."

Sara and Freya organized a wheelchair for Bonnie and wheeled her into the maternity ward.

Damon raised his head from the sign-in form, suspicious.

"You must be joking," he said, "Because inside I'm laughing really hard. You think you can come in at the last minute and steal our money?"

Tyler didn't respond until several minutes later, thrown by Damon's childish response.

"I'm sorry, are you being serious?"

Damon laughed, noticing the anchovies, some still residing in the tin of natural oils.

"You are bigger idiots than I thought, this little fish won't save you. It's yams that kickstart labour," Damon picked up their bags and went to the foyer.

Tyler's eyebrows knotted together in annoyance, he changed his tactics.

"Well, my wife is full of yams!" he retorted.

"Crammed with yams!" Elena agreed, taking her fiancé's hand.

Damon turned around, still smiling like a mad man.

" _Snap!_ It doesn't, it stops it," he chuckled, Elena just noticed the bags beneath his eyes.

"Did he just snap me in a maternity ward?" Tyler breathed, turning to Elena who mouthed 'yes'.

This guy was getting on his last nerve.

"Hey, you're a really hostile guy, where do you work, the DMV?" he smirked.

Damon grimaced, and shook his head.

"No, I run a Bed and Breakfast, you should come by," he said, handing out some business cards.

' _CITY CHARM BED AND BREAKFAST: WHERE ALL YOU DREAMS COME TRUE'_

Tyler swallowed his remark and threw the anchovy tin into the bin before he gagged.

Damon moved to the snack machine. Not long after, Sara returned with Bonnie, smiling, and explaining to the entourage which consisted not only of Damon, Tyler and Elena, but also two girls in their pajamas, accompanied with an elderly lady, Damon referred to as 'Grams'.

"The ultrasound says no, she's not ready either, so you'll all have to come back later," Sara said.

Crest fallen, Damon gave the packet of skittles to his eldest child, Jacqueline Lily, who poured herself a handful, and let her sister, Harriette Rose, pick out all the grape flavoured ones. Elena smiled to herself, reminded of her little brother, Jeremy, whom she took care of growing up. She'd invited him to Christmas, only to have him shout about throwing her happiness in his face, after Liv ended his two-year relationship.

He was hurting, and she wanted to call him, tell him everything would be okay, just like she had her whole life. She watched Bonnie apologise to Damon: he helped her from the chair, with a kind, "It's not your fault," and the two leaned on each other like an old married couple, and Elena felt fresh tears roll down her cheeks.

Someday, she might be back at hospital having her second or third child, her parents, and Jeremy there to support her as her future children played football. Elena squeezed Tyler's hand, and received a squeeze back. She was determined to be a great mother – and what better way to provide for a baby than to win a shit ton of money?

"We're going to win that money," Elena whispered. "We will."

"I'm sorry too, also, it's on now, Prince Charming," Tyler said to Damon, helping Elena up.

Damon glared at them, "You bet," he said.

Bonnie waved at her daughters and her Grams, one hand on her lower back, the other around Damon's arm. Elena stood, determined to have her baby before Bonnie.

"Oh, It's on!" Elena said, blocking the exit, her belly so large she could barely see her own feet.

"Let's go! No one likes it when pregnant women fight." Tyler intervened, pulling Elena with him.

"Somethings on?" Bonnie queried Damon, who ran a gentle hand through her wavy hair.

"Never you mind," Damon answered, carrying her bags. "You've nothing to worry about," he said.

* * *

Hope went straight to her room after dropping the bag of shopping on the bench. She didn't bother switching on the television, because her mum had ruined her whole night.

"I know you gave up your own plans to be with me tonight. I can't be your everything, mum. Please don't be a Violet's mum!" Hope yelled dropping her coat and bag on her bed.

"A what? A Violet's mum? You mean, Joanna Fell?" Hayley asked, hanging her coat on the rack.

"Yes, she hides in the bushes every day to make sure Violet actually goes to school, it's nuts."

Hayley rolled her eyes, "Come on, I'm not that bad," she pressed.

This was going to be harder than Hope thought, her mum was completely blinded by reality.

"Mum, you've stopped trying, and you're being all clingy, and mad because you don't have a man in your life. You've got to find somebody, and I don't mean, Dad, because he's moved on, yeah, he screwed up, but he's willing to fix it, but I don't want you to miss out. You're a hot woman, if you just lose the clogs maybe?" Hope finished.

Hayley looked down at her Christmas clogs, and decided to rebuttal Hope's argument.

"I'm sorry but I _am_ trying, and I'm happy your Dad's moved on, and I hope he and Caroline can work things out, but I'm not clingy and mad because I don't have a man in my life - I can be happy without a man in my life. I've been happy for the last fifteen years, with only you, and work, and my friends… all I want, is you to try and have a nice time, like we used to, remember? ' _Toot! Party_!'

Hope just couldn't do another year of dancing and blowing party-poopers at the television screen. Even her Uncle Kol had bailed to hang out with his roommate, and as far as her other Aunties and Uncles, they would be dealing with much cooler things, than spending it at home on New Year's.

Maybe she was selfish? Maybe she was asking too much? But she was a teenager, and she wanted what New York promised, a midnight kiss with a boy she liked.

"Okay. Mum, no more." Hope raised her hands. "I'm over it, and I'm over you," she slammed her bedroom door with such force the painting of a lone figure in a forest which Klaus had painted so long ago, fell off its hook and landed at Hayley's feet.

' _Why'd you paint it?' Hayley had asked, wine in hand._

 _Klaus licked his lip, hesitant, but trusting._

' _Painting is a metaphor for control. Every choice is mine, the canvas, the colour, as a child I had neither a sense of the world nor my place in it, but art taught me that once vision could be achieved with sheer force of will, the same is true of life, provided one refuses to let anything stand in one's way?'_

 _Hayley sipped her wine, a smile unravelling across her lips._

' _So, this is your thing? Show a girl a few mediocre paintings, whine about your childhood and I swoon and spill all my dirty secrets?'_

Hayley pulled her cell out of her pocket and checked her messages: nothing. She opened a bottle of pinot noir, grabbed a glass, and poured until it was level with the edge, then dialled Klaus again.

* * *

Sara came to check on Mikael, as Meredith had instructed throughout the night. There was something she didn't understand: "Why did you stop getting treatment? First no radiation, now no chemo? It's been weeks?" she sat down in the empty visitor's chair, awaiting his answer.

Mikael looked at the flickering hospital lights which weren't that different to the cell he'd spent the last fifteen years in. He was a prisoner still, his body holding him hostage – his mind, the warden: unlocking memories when it saw fit: Esther, whom he'd pledged his allegiance to; the birth of his seven children – two whom died at a young age, and one, revealed to be fathered by another man. Anger, betrayal, jealousy unleashed a monster who could not be tamed.

"Why deny the inevitable? When I was a photographer in Vietnam, I'd see death all the time. My brothers – strangers - as scared as I, trapped in a jungle away from home. I owned a revolver, and fifteen years ago in a blind rage I killed a man. I've been in Hell since, reliving my past – he did not scream like the others, he held my wife, and _his_ son, as blood pooled from his chest, he fell to his knees and his eyes glazed over." Mikael fell silent. " _He is coming for me."_

Sara felt goose bumps beneath her palms, and tucked her arms around her waist, she didn't bring up the war, but instead promised to make him as comfortable as she could, even if he was a prisoner.

"Are you sure there's nobody we can call?" Sara pressed, checking his vitals.

Mikael scratched his bearded hairs, fingers entwined with breathing tubes, and thought of his family.

"I destroyed any chance of a reunion with my family the moment I fired that gun," he said.

Sara gave him a look of pity, and he held her gaze.

"Just get me to midnight, so I can watch the Ball Drop one last time," he gasped.

* * *

"What do you mean you're singing in Times Square?"

Hayley tossed various ingredients from her fridge into a wok – leftover turkey, assorted vegetables, basil, spinach and egg. She left her phone on speaker, so she could be hands-free, and glanced at Hope's door for movement – maybe if she heard her Dad's voice, she'd come out.

Klaus shouted over the cheers of his support band to answer her question.

"It was a last-minute decision, I thought I could patch things up with Caroline, but she doesn't want anything to do with me. How's Hope?" Klaus asked, changing the subject.

Hayley fried the vegetables, stirring every few minutes, the aroma smelled amazing.

"I'm sorry, I know you loved her and if Caroline still loves you, she'll come back to you, all you need to do is give her a reason to believe in you," Hayley suggested. "As for Hope, she just slammed her door in my face. Gone are the days she enjoyed chilling with me," Hayley said. "She wanted to meet a boy at Times Square, and I said she couldn't go without supervision, so now I'm the big bad wolf," she explained.

She could hear impatient screams coming from Klaus' groupies, and recalled herself as a teen dancing in the mosh to Bon Jovi with all her friends, was she being a hypocrite?

"Hope's _dating_? She's only five, how could you let that happen?!" Klaus mock-argued.

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Ha, he's her friend, who by the way, joked he was an adult, not a kid, like that eased my nerves. Actually, his cockiness reminded me of you in your twenties," she said.

Klaus scoffed, "Me, cocky? I think you've got me confused with Kol," he strummed some guitar chords. "As for this kid, maybe I should meet him, you know, suss out his intentions, I mean, if he wants to date our daughter, he's going to have to ask my permission," he said.

Hayley smirked, "That's only for proposals," she corrected. "And you didn't ask _my father_ for my hand in marriage," she reminded him.

Klaus chuckled, "That's because you were pregnant, and I fancied my life," he joked.

Hayley grabbed two bowls from the cupboard and served up, dropping a spoon into the bowls.

She couldn't hear any music coming from Hope's room, in fact it was so quiet she wondered whether Hope was drawing, or sleeping? It didn't occur to her at all, there could be a third option.

"Well, maybe if you both left now, you could meet me at Times Square," Klaus suggested.

Hayley smiled, "For what, a family reunion? No, you and I both know _that_ would be a bad idea," she sighed. "Especially if there's alcohol involved," she warned. "And I've already had one glass of wine."

Klaus smirked, "Gone are the days you enjoyed spontaneity," he said. "And I suggested it as a win-win situation, not as anything untoward," he added. "You're doing just fine, Hayley," he said.

Hayley smiled, reminded of their pre-Hope days, when life was an endless adventure.

"Just remember, tonight is the one night anything is possible: you can stay up past midnight, make amends with family, challenge yourself, find love, and walk in someone else's shoes, because, no matter how shit, or great this year has been, soon we get a do over – it's up to you how you want to start the new year. Just don't use Hope as an excuse, because you both deserve better than that."

Hayley knocked on Hope's door, taking Klaus' words to heart.

Yes, she'd stayed home to spend time with Hope, and yes, she could have offered to be a chaperone to Hope and Riley and allowed her daughter to make her own memories. She could have trusted Hope, and allowed her to go with her friends, knowing Klaus, Kol and Rebekah were nearby, leaving her to meet Elijah in their spot, if she had intended to keep her promise.

"Thanks, Klaus. I'll put Hope on, hold on," Hayley opened the door to reveal a vacant bedroom, curtains blowing in the wind from her open window.

A sketchbook lay on her doona, untouched.

Her backpack was missing, along with her jacket and wallet.

"Hayley, you still there?" Klaus asked, ignoring calls to go on the stage. "What's happening?"

Hayley ran to the window, looking down the fire-escape and down the busy street.

Hope wasn't there.

"Yeah, I'm here – Hope's not, she's gone to meet Riley, I'll call you when I find her," she ended the call, shut the window and locked it, put on her jacket, grabbed her bag and scarf and ran for the train. She sprinted across the road, down the steps to the station, and checked the arrival and departure times, before scanning the platforms for Hope.

This was all her fault, if she'd said, 'yes' instead of being a 'Violet's mum', she might be having a nice relaxing bath, or watching a nice movie, instead of chasing down her daughter in a panic.

Hayley caught sight of Hope, hugging the rail near the door of a leaving train, she looks so scared.

"Hope!" Hayley yelled, pulling out her phone. "Calling you," she yelled, catching Hope's glare.

Hayley bit her nails, she'd never been so anxious in all her life.

Hope's phone rang out to voicemail, and the next train wasn't for another ten minutes.

Hayley thumbed down her contacts, hitting Kol's name, she was desperate.

0o0o

"I think she's decided!" a vet nurse entered the waiting room.

Camille held a puppy in her arms, following a few steps behind.

"You got a hat," Camille noted, pointing at Kol's 'ADOPT A PET NOW' beanie.

"You got a dog," Kol nodded, pointing to the 6-week-old wired-haired vizsla.

"It's a _big_ responsibility," Camille reminded herself.

"Give it a chance," Kol murmured.

"We'll give him his shots, and you can pick him up on Monday," the vet nurse said.

"Or you can just wait, and think about it?" Kol suggested.

Camille shook her head, "No, I'm done waiting, we're going to make each other very happy, aren't we?" she said, laughing when the pup licked her nose.

Kol smirked, watching Camille hug the ball of fluff.

He wondered what Jeremy thought of dogs, he could easily have walked out with about four.

"What are you going to name him? Something manly, like Kong?" Kol asked, giving it a cuddle.

"How about Mr Snugglepuss?"Camille smiled, brightly. "Kidding, he's definitely a Charlie," she said.

Kol knew another person who would love to get to know this little guy.

Camille signed the contract to take her pup home and went to buy some extra accessories.

"Look what you just did, saved a life," Kol said, scratching the pup's ears, with a grin. "Check!"

Camille beamed, and went to look at some accessories for Charlie.

"I just have to make a quick phone call, I'll see you outside when you're ready?" Kol said.

He stood by his scooter, and called Jeremy again, he needed his wingman!

"Yo, Jer, I made a deal with this lady for 2 tix to Ansel Records' Gala party. I don't know what her deal is, man, she's a couple sandwiches short of a picnic, _a little bit pathetic_ , but in a cute way," he hissed into his cell. "Look just call me back, you won't regret it," he said.

Camille's excited expression turned to one of defeat, when she realised where Kol's true feelings lay. Kol pocketed his phone, unaware, and looked at the list. "Next 'be amazed' - very vague, I will be amazed if I think of anything, but I will." He grinned, passing her a helmet, which she didn't take. He tilted his head to the left, trying to understand her mood.

"I don't feel like doing this anymore," Camille said.

Startled, Kol watched her leave without any explanation. He called her name, ignoring the odd looks from strangers but that didn't deter her. Kol left his scooter parked, and ran after her, confused. He caught her arm, worried.

"I'm _pathetic_ , dude." Camille wiped fresh tears from her cheeks.

Kol put his hands on his head, cursing himself and his fat mouth.

* * *

Technicians' boots clanked against the stairs. The crowd's boos reached Rebekah's ears as she flicked the prop lightswitch thinking an abundance of times might jog its current, unfortunately not.

She waited for a diagnosis from her Head engineer, Thierry, hoping the ball could be fixed simply by changing one light, not 300'000.

An hour passed, then two, and the Mexican wave dwindled in the crowd. Fans shouted Klaus' name, and Rebekah paused to see her big brother step onto the stage, guitar in hand. His hair was longer than she remembered. It was 10pm, soon it would be the countdown, but only if they fixed the ball in time. She sat in her camping chair, the prize of being Isabel's PA slipping through her fingers.

Unable to wait another minute, she radioed a meeting with all fifty engineers to find a solution.

"How soon will it be up and running?" she asked.

The head engineer stepped forward, twirling his blue beanie in his gloved hands.

"Yes, Thierry?" she craved another tea, but she felt too ill to drink one.

"Miss Mikaelson, we're not really sure what's wrong," Thierry explained.

Rebekah looked out of her office window, seeing millions of people congregating below to see the ball, and how they'd waited all year for this spectacular moment, to discover it would never drop.

"I haveone job, to make sure, even if I have to do it with my own two hands, that ball descends at midnight. _Can't move midnight_!" she exhaled, arms flowing through an imaginary current of water.

The engineers shifted from side to side, uneasy.

 **"** Why are you looking at your shoes, Thierry, I hate when you look at your shoes, it means you're not telling me something… spit it out?" Rebekah demanded.

The engineers all glanced at each other and said: **"** We need Lorenzo St John, the designer."

 **A/N: Please review.**


	4. Serendipity

**Disclaimer: Borrowed and nurtured. A/N: Edited 25/1/2020.**

 **Serendipity**

 **4.**

Elijah sat in the back of the caravan, exhausted, but not yet defeated. Emily gave him a rug to keep warm, whilst teenagers, Lucy and Bree asked: 'Are you in MI5, Mr?' and 'Are you James Bond?' and 'Who's that girl in your wallet?' Emily steered them back to reality by asking about the speech he'd attempted to write on a scrap of paper, and failed, because he needed inspiration.

"What inspires you, Elijah?" her voice was like a guardian angel or his lost muse.

"Pizza," Elijah admitted, transported to _Stefan Salvatore's Pizzeria_ in downtown Brooklyn _,_ where he'd befriended Stefan and Davina, and played jazz piano, eventually bumping into Hayley.

"You see, I work in Music Production, and we give a lot of speeches at end of year functions, and there were so many I had to get outside for fresh air, so I did one better and went to get pizza, then, I dabbled on the piano, and got to really let go of who I was supposed to be, the heir of Ansel Records – I just played, and met some wonderful people – the owners for example."

"Did anything else happen?" Emily enquired, studying his features with beady eyes.

Elijah scratched his stubble, twirling a pen in his right hand, torn between the truth and white lies.

"Something did happen, he's blushing!" Lucy squealed, elbowing Bree in the side.

Elijah put down his pen, and reached inside his tuxedo jacket, to reveal a folded serviette.

"I met a woman, and she was extraordinary. We talked for hours, I went on about the business, about how our stock was going up and she said: 'That's all great, but how's your heart?' Who says that?" Elijah breathed, remembering how that moment had touched him.

"Did you at least kiss her?" Jonas asked from the driver's seat.

"Yes, at midnight," Elijah admitted. "Then I went to the restroom and when I returned, she'd gone, but she left me this serviette beneath her champagne glass. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away." He let Bree take it from his hand.

She read it aloud to her family, and Elijah listened, wondering if they'd both keep their promise.

"Things are complicated, if you are still thinking of me in a year, meet me back here at the same time next year.' So, you've been carrying it for a year?" Bree breathed, eyes widening in surprise.

Emily and Lucy beamed, and Jonas adjusted the rear vision mirror, offering his two cents.

"You went out for a slice of pizza and might have met the one. You know what that is?" Jonas said.

"Insanity?" Elijah tucked the serviette away for safekeeping, as the NYC lights came into view.

"No, _serendipity_. You don't mess with serendipity," Jonas explained.

"So, are you going to meet her?" Emily asked.

Elijah ran a hand through his frazzled hair, his heart began to race at the very thought.

"What's the worst that could happen? If she doesn't show, you move on with your life," Jonas said.

Emily looked shrewdly at Elijah.

"Oh, that's not it at all, you're afraid she _will_ show up," Emily read his mind.

Elijah tapped his pen against his paper, admitting: "Yeah, just because I look like a gentleman, doesn't mean I'm not terrified of what to say, not just in this speech, but to her, if she shows. Maybe I should just leave that night in the past?" he shrugged, receiving a blast of 'Nos' from all corners.

* * *

Tyler arrived home after an errand, dropping his house keys at the door.

"Elena, you in the bathroom? " he called walking through their small apartment. He walked into the lounge area, noticing an already packed overnight bag, by the door. The couch was vacant. Tyler's eyes moved from the kitchen to the lounge a few times, then he turned around, had Elena gone out?

"Over here, handsome," she called.

Tyler found Elena's yoga mat, and her upside-down body, legs against the wall.

"What are you doing?" he grinned, shaking his head.

"Yoga. It's supposed to help," Elena breathed, balancing like a pro.

Tyler grimaced, "I'm no expert, but it seems like it might send the baby in the wrong direction. Let me help you," and he looked her body up and down, trying to figure out how exactly to help.

Elena managed somehow and grabbed her towel to wipe the sweat from her body.

"Did you get it?" she queried.

Tyler pulled a bottle from his jacket pocket.

"Yes, I got a good discount with my vet school I.D." he added.

Elena smiled, "You're going to be a great vet someday, Ty," she complimented.

Tyler perched himself on the edge of her Yoga Stress Ball, as Elena lowered herself into the couch.

"If you were a horse, I'd know better what to do, of course, if you were a horse, we'd never get invited to dinner parties. And, I'd be married to a horse," he smelled the bottle. "This smells awful, here, drink it," he offered, sending the bottle towards her.

Elena pulled a disgusted face.

"What, it's castor oil? Mary Poppins swore by this," Tyler said, checking the ingredients.

Elena wasn't fooled by the iconic literary figure.

"Mary Poppins also danced with cartoon penguins," she added.

Tyler narrowed his eyes.

"Coward," he put the bottle of castor oil to his lips and took a swig. "Bleurgh," he swallowed about 30%, the rest ended up on the carpet. "Mary Poppins sucks!" Tyler rolled away on the stress ball to put as much distance as he could from the castor oil, leaving it on the coffee table.

"Well, you forgot about the spoon full of sugar," Elena joked, massaging her stomach. "Ooph, what was that?" She touched her left side, experiencing an odd feeling. Tyler noticed her worried expression and held her gaze. Elena looked down, a large wet stain on her grey tracksuit-pants. "Oh my god, my water just broke…" she gaped, she hadn't expected it to happen this way.

"All of it?" Tyler stood up suddenly and backed away.

"Well, what do you think," Elena grabbed handfuls of tissues to soak up some of the water.

"Well, that's too early, can you turn it off?" came Tyler's panicked reply.

"And how do you suggest I do that?" Elena answered.

"I don't know! Yoga? Why don't you go back upside down, you could do a downward dog, or upward dog, do one of the dogs?" Tyler gestured to the wall. "We need to pack!" he shouted, suddenly.

"We have packed," Elena pointed to her bag. "Ok, calm," she called, finding her calm channel, then curling her hair behind her right ear, thinking of her emergency plan.

"TAXI!" Tyler shouted, clutching the bag in two hands.

"Babe, I don't think we can get one from here," Elena sighed and pulled on her cardigan.

Tyler bent over, bag in one hand, and began Elena's breathing techniques.

"You're right, we've got to go downstairs where the taxi's live," he tried to slow his racing heart.

Elena only had seconds to change. "Right, pants! I need pants!" she needed Tyler to focus.

Tyler went to the shelf and threw her a pair of spare pants.

"These are _your_ pants. Give me the cute pink ones," Elena indicated, seeing some on the shelf.

Tyler went back and grabbed them, then threw them in her face.

"Well, don't throw them at me!" Elena complained.

Who knew having a baby was nothing like the stimulated scenarios in the videos they'd been watching during birthing class – those women were all prepared, with husbands who knew the emergency plan. They were also middle-aged, and had jobs, and had their lives mapped out. Elena and Tyler were winging it, and if they made it to the hospital, Elena only then, had to have the baby.

Tyler didn't even wait, he left her on the couch, grabbing his house keys.

"Okay, so I'll meet you there?" Elena called, throwing her arms in the air.

Tyler spun on his heels, hurrying over to help her.

"You should come with me, we should both go," he said, helping her change pants first.

Somehow, they made it into the lift, and out onto the street. Tyler threw his arm out to hail a taxi, yelling: "TAXI! PREGNANT! TAXI!" to the whole of New York City. Elena held onto the fence, legs apart, repeating 'calm' as her mantra.

"Want me to help?" she asked out of kindness.

Tyler shook his head.

"Honey, I've got this, I've spent most of my life in New York, I think I can hail a taxi."

Tyler opened the cab door for her, and doubled back to help her inside the car, only to find some other pedestrian walked straight inside, and the taxi zoomed off with a new fare.

"NOOOOO!" Tyler screamed, panic-stricken, and disappointed.

Elena would have laughed if it wasn't for her contractions gaining momentum.

"Good job, home boy," she patted his shoulder.

Tyler didn't let it defeat him, running up and down the street, shouting taxi.

"Okay, plan B," Elena opened her cell, and called Jer, still no answer, she sighed. "Honey, I'm calling an ambulance," she shouted, when Tyler whooshed past her, embodying The Flash.

* * *

Sara pulled a blanket around herself and thought about all those celebrating new year's with their families, and laughing and playing board games, or listening to music. She wondered whether Mikael had any family coming to visit. She listened to the trolleys wheel up and down the wards and noticed her patient had opened his eyes.

"No, hot date? A pretty girl like you," he murmured.

Sara put her tea bag in the bin by his bed and took his hand.

"Right now, you're my hot date," she said.

His breathing had become more laboured.

"I don't deserve your kindness, I'm a murderer, Sara," he murmured.

She squeezed his hand, giving what little comfort she could to a dying man.

* * *

Jeremy and Katherine sat on opposites sides of the elevator in utter silence.

"I'm sorry I called you a groupie, you're really not going to talk to me at all?" he asked.

Katherine had been staring at a piece of mould for the last hour, avoiding Jeremy's glances.

"Fine, we can talk. But as long as we're making assumptions about each other, why don't I give it a shot?" Katherine suggested. "You grew up in suburban _fill in the blank_ , you went to _la de da_ liberal art school, you didn't have enough drive to get a real job, and then you grew half a beard and moved to Manhattan on your grandmother's inheritance, and, and, now you think, just because you moved somewhere it makes you cool, but the truth is, it doesn't, ok?" Katherine took a breath. "Because you're just some wannabe hipster who judges everything, because you're too _scared_ to take a chance on _anything_ , and, my guess? This whole hatred of nye is from some boring as hell prom queen who broke your heart in high school, so what, am I close?" she demanded.

Jeremy had watched Katherine pace up and down her spot of elevator with an amused expression.

He decided to put her down gently.

"Mystic Falls. Whitmore University, and I'm a graphic book artist," he raised his sketchpad.

"You draw?" she sounded judgemental.

He smiled, watching her body language change from annoyed to vulnerable.

"Illustrate," he corrected with a grin.

She giggled, a hand covering her lips, he was reminded a little of his sister, Elena.

"And it was in college when she broke it, _and this beard_ took a year to grow. Cold coffee?"

Katherine reached for the coffee and their fingers touched, sparking something more than friendship.

* * *

10.30pm, the VIP guests were walking the red carpet in extravagant frocks and suits. The guests included musicians starting out, and some who'd reached #1 in the charts. Waiters served alcohol and cocktails at the bar, and amongst it all, eating Caroline's canapes by the handful was Esther Lycanthrope, President of Ansel's Records, appointed after her lover was murdered by her ex-husband – but today, she represented strength, good will, and opportunities.

"Welcome to Ansel's Records' VIP Masked Gala, what better way to end this year, both good and bad with the very, very best, coming up on this stage very soon, including one of the hottest names in the music industry, and my second eldest son, Niklaus Mikaelson! Until then, I would like you all to make yourselves comfortable, mingle and make tonight, memorable."

The audience cheered, and Esther greeted her west highland white with a cuddle.

* * *

Lorenzo St John, who Isabel Saltzman had fired for reasons unknown to Rebekah, if only to mess with her already stressful night, entered Times Square. With Vincent's assistance, Thierry and the other engineers moved aside, and Rebekah held out her hand wanting to make a good impression.

"Lorenzo, I'm Rebekah, thank you so much for coming," she shook hands with an Italian gentleman with grey hairs sticking out of his ears. He had designed this year's ball drop, and they needed his expertise. She was willing to do anything to persuade him to help them.

"Yes, there was a short," Lorenzo explained.

Vincent helped translate and Rebekah was glad of it.

His presence calmed her, like all she needed to get through the night was the help of a friend.

"This ball has 3500 lighting clues," The Lorenzo declared, staring up at his creation.

"Cues. He means cues," Vincent explained in response to Rebekah's raised eyebrows.

"Wait, you have to find the one light that went out in over three thousand? How have we not progressed passed the string of Christmas lights that all go out because of one bad one?" she asked.

Lorenzo touched his moustache, annoyance flashed in his eyes.

"My question also, and then I get fired!" Lorenzo turned, and Rebekah grabbed his sleeve.

She hoped he could hear the desperation in her voice. "Wait, we need you! _I need you_."

"Thank you," Lorenzo murmured, picking up his toolbox and following Thierry and Diego to the roof.

Rebekah soon found herself making yet another announcement. The media, the spectators and the mayor counted on her for an explanation. It was two hours until the ball drop, and she could not, or would not be defeated. As she cleared her throat, and looked into the cameras, she found Vincent in the crowd, it was his smile that encouraged her and inspired what to say.

 **"** I'm Rebekah Mikaelson from _Times Square Alliance_.As you all can see the ball has stopped halfway to its perch. It's suspended there to remind us before we pop the champagne and celebrate the New Year, to stop and reflect on the year that has gone by. To remember both our triumphs and our missteps, our promises made and broken," Rebekah paused to swallow.

"The times we opened ourselves up to great adventures or closed ourselves down for fear of getting hurt. Cause that's what New Year's is all about, getting another chance," Rebekah smiled. "The chance to forgive, to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more. And stop worrying about what if and start embracing what will be. So, when that ball drops at midnight, and it will drop, let's remember to be nice to each other, kind to each other. And not just tonight, but all year long. Thank you."

Rebekah stepped down from the podium and heard the cheers from the crowd below. She'd bought some time, and that's what mattered.

* * *

Katherine sipped some cold coffee from the flask, and emptied her soul to Jeremy Gilbert, there was nothing better to do. "I went to Julliard, and I'm a backup singer, not a back of the bus groupie," she explained, giving Jeremy a mock-glare.

Jeremy had that coming, he probably shouldn't have judged her.

"Jeremy, aka Mr Moron, how long have you been a back-up singer?" he asked, taking back his coffee.

Katherine twisted her bracelet around her wrist, thinking, "Too long. I got hired for tonight, but I was hoping Klaus would ask me to go on tour?" she confessed. "That's my dream," she said.

"You could sing something for me?" Jeremy suggested.

Katherine's cheeks turned the colour of beetroot.

"Oh no, the only time I sing for performances of one, is if I'm in the shower," she realised her mistake after his smirk, and rushed to say, "No, don't say anything!"

* * *

Kol was coming out of the toilet when Hayley called his cell.

"Hey, sis," Kol went to the sink.

"Have you heard from Hope?" Hayley demanded.

Kol washed his hands with the cell pressed against his shoulder and ear.

"Hey, calm down, what is she AWOL? It's NYE, she's a teen, she's just being her mother's daughter."

Hayley had done a few reckless things in her past, it was bound to have passed onto his niece. One of his favourite stories was when Hayley got drunk and danced on Hollis' bar at the age of fifteen.

"I was never that defiant, you should have seen the way she looked at me," Hayley hissed.

"I'm confused, I thought you had plans tonight?" Kol asked.

"I sort of did, but I chose to be with Hope, and now she's gone!" Hayley stressed.

He dried his hands, switching the phone to his free hand, and stopping to fix his hair in the mirror.

"You know what, I'm not really worried about Hope, I'm more worried about you. Ifyou're not working, you need to go out and have some fun. You've got to let your hair down and leave the clogs at home," Kol added.

"Great, more clog commentary! All I really need to do is find Hope!"

"Alright, alright. Look, she's a good kid, okay? If she did happen to call her cool uncle to say where she'd be, she may in fact have said the 54th street. But please don't rat me out."

"Oh god, Kol, thank you, thank you so much!" Hayley said.

Kol had a thought. It was the second last one on the list, and if he could pull it off, it might just be what he needed to gain Camille's trust again. "Wait! Wait, sis, hold on..." he hissed. Hayley thankfully was still there. "I've got a huge favour to ask."

Kol found Camille having an orange and poppyseed cupcake with cream cheese frosting. She didn't look up from the paper, and he swallowed, putting her list down in front of her.

"Be amazed, that's the next thing on the list." He crouched by the table and rested his hand on her wrist. "Don't let this whole thing go to waste because I'm a big mouthed idiot. I'm sick and tired of being that guy. Please Cami, come with me."

It seemed Camille had already forgiven him and was just waiting for him to come around. She smiled, picked up her list and her bag, and when he stood, said: "On one condition."

Kol knew she had it in her since the start of their friendship, but as he sat on the back of his scooter, holding onto Camille's waist, and telling her how to drive, he felt a sense of pride bubble up through his chest, too. They had come a long way since yesterday.

* * *

Rebekah watched the media outlets pack away their equipment, satisfied by her speech. She hoped the people outside were just as forgiving. "That was a nice speech," Vincent accompanied her to the roof, where the engineers continued to work on the Ball. Rebekah told him she was just trying to save her job. "No, I don't think so. I think you were talking about you."

How did she get so lucky, to have a friend like him?

"Okay fine, maybe I was. But all I can do is reflect and try and do better next year." Rebekah tried not to make a big deal out of it, although she knew by Vincent's expression, he didn't buy it.

"Or sooner?" Vincent pressed.

"Why did I tell you about him?" Rebekah sighed, looking out at the horizon.

 **"** I'm a New York City cop, people tell me things," Vincent grinned.

 **"** I'm sure he's forgotten it by now," Rebekah said, seeing Lorenzo search for the broken light.

 **"** You should go," Vincent reminded her. "I can hold the fort here with Diego and Thierry," he said.

Rebekah folded her arms across her chest, adamant.

 **"** I don't move until the ball moves," she said, crossing her arms with a frown.

* * *

Tyler assisted Elena out of the lift, carrying her overnight bag, grateful his fiancé's contractions had eased – so now he could flex his fingers. "I am so excited, in all my life I've never won a competition before," At Elena's glare Tyler hurried to say. "And the baby, I'm obviously excited about that too-"

Elena leaned against Tyler, letting him carry some of her baby weight, she couldn't believe how close she was to having her baby – and thoughts to call her parents or Jeremy bombarded her brain, as well as asking for an epidural. She blew her brown hair out of her eyes, keen to collapse in a bed.

The lift ahead of them pinged, and out came the Salvatore's.

Damon spotted Tyler, just as Tyler spotted Damon.

"Anchovy man!" Damon growled.

"Yam liar!" Tyler confronted.

"I'm going to sign us in, okay?" Damon kissed Bonnie's forehead, and made a run for the desk.

"Same," Tyler kissed Elena's cheek and pelted towards the reception, elbowing Damon aside.

Liam stood at the desk, chewing peppermint flavoured chewing gum.

"Tyler Lockwood checking in," Tyler said, to an unamused Liam.

"Damon Salvatore checking in, on this fine evening," Damon said, half leaning on the desk.

"Contractions?" Liam's monotonous voice asked.

"Six and a half minutes apart," Tyler blurted.

"Five minutes apart," Damon yelled.

"Cervix?" Liam said, writing down the information.

"She has one," Tyler received an astounding look from Liam. "Oh, four centimetres dilated."

Damon interrupted, "Four, we are four, five, six, seven, maybe eight!"

Tyler frowned, annoyed by Damon's interruptions.

Elena was bent out of shape, one hand cradling her belly, and the other providing support for her back. Bonnie's children were nowhere to be found, but she remained calm, and whilst their partners sorted the necessities, Bonnie turned to Elena with a look of apology:

"I'm sorry about Damon, he's very competitive," she confessed, with a wave of her hand.

Elena shook her head. "Oh, I should apologise too, I really didn't mean anything was _on_ ," Elena felt another sharp pain in her stomach – what was her baby doing? Gymnastics? "Ooph," she winced.

Bonnie had just come out of her own contraction, and both women laughed.

"You're Elena _Gilbert_ , right?" Bonnie queried.

"Yeah, I mean, I'll be Elena _Lockwood_ in a couple of months," she admitted pointing to her ring.

"That's lovely, well, your father, Grayson Gilbert, he delivered both my other girls into the world. He was a wonderful obstetrician," Bonnie admitted.

Bonnie pursed her lips, and threw her head forward, clenching her teeth, touching the foyer desk. She screamed, and Elena in between her own contractions, pulled a free wheelchair towards her.

"Thanks," Bonnie sat in the wheelchair, clutching her stomach. "ARGH!" Her breathing became ragged, and Elena turned pale, she worried for Bonnie – ready to grab Damon if she needed to, but he'd heard and slid across the linoleum to reach her, holding onto Bonnie's knees.

"Don't you show your head to me young lady, not yet!" Damon yelled. "Papa will tell you when it's time okay?" Liam, Sara, Freya, Tyler and Elena stared at the couple in a slightly disturbed way.

Elena held onto Tyler's hand as he pushed a wheelchair over to her and helped her sit down.

"Oh, please don't yell at my vagina," Elena grimaced.

Tyler replied: "Oh I never will!" with a tortured expression.

Bonnie's sudden pain had subsided, and Damon caressed her belly.

"Oh, it's amazing, she really listens! She just crawled right up in there," Bonnie laughed.

Liam filed the paperwork, and Freya and Sara wheeled Elena and Bonnie to their rooms.

Elena wished Bonnie good luck and received a thumbs up in return. It didn't feel like a competition anymore, and she was glad of it, because now she could focus on the most important thing, not winning the money, but becoming a mother for the first time.

* * *

"Let's see it," Katherine demanded of Jeremy, trying to peek at his sketch of her.

She was half intrigued, and half terrified of how he would portray her.

"Let's see it, _la la laaaa_ ," Jeremy teased, encouraging her with his own off-pitch voice.

Katherine chewed the inside of her cheek, debating, then eventually caved.

"You draw, I'll sing," she suggested.

"What you don't like my singing?" Jeremy said, turning his sketchpad towards him.

Katherine cleared her throat, and began to sing, looking out the window into the horizon.

 _When the road gets dark_

 _And you can no longer see_

 _Let my love throw a spark_

 _Have a little faith in me_

Jeremy's eyes widened in surprise; her voice was a secret weapon, used to stun her enemies. She was no longer vulnerable, she was in her element, and she knew it. He had no chance, the moment she began to sing, he'd fallen hard for her.

 _When the tears you cry_

 _Are all you can believe_

 _Just give these loving arms a try_

 _Have a little faith in me_

Caroline's night had almost drawn to a close, she only had a few more truffles to wrap, then she could mingle with the other VIPs. Matt and Gia hung back to help, whilst her other staff washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen; hanging their aprons up one by one.

"Klaus is going on soon," Gia called. "You wanna see?"

"No, I'm a professional, I can't be seen gawking at the talent," Caroline replied, tasting her creations.

"Well, I'm going to gawk, I'm going to get close enough to get spit and sweat on," Gia smiled.

Caroline watched the television, ignoring Matt's smirk, and turned up the volume. There was Klaus, his charming persona winning over thousands of fans and strangers alike. He made playing guitar look effortless, and his voice made her swoon, even though she'd deny it.

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

Kol sat amongst the red-cushioned theatre seats, having arranged for Camille's 'Be Amazed' bucket list event. He could never have pulled it off, if it wasn't for Hayley's connections: mending and darning costumes for Broadway performers had its perks – especially when it allowed Cami to be whoever she wanted to be, but mostly to have the ability to fly.

"Ladies and gents, for one-night, Broadway is ready to present for her first resolution tour, Cami O'Connell!" Kol announced, applauding the empty stage.

Camille swung in front of him, hanging from a wire, while Michael Buble's _Winter Wonderland_ played in the background.

"Are you amazed, Cami?" Kol grinned.

"Yes! I'm amazed you got me up here. Okay, this is great, but let me down now!" she urged.

 _When your secret heart_

 _Cannot speak easily_

 _I say, come here darlin', from a whisper start_

 _To have a little bit of faith in me_

Tyler moved from Elena's bedside to the blinds, opening them a little to spy on the Salvatores.

"Oh, this is amazing I can totally see him!" he said, looking into the opposite room.

Elena who had been concentrating on her breathing with Freya, attempted to sit up.

"What? You can see him?!" she panicked.

Freya encouraged her to lie down, gently pushing her shoulder.

"Okay, if you try to see, I can't see," Freya warned.

Tyler looked from the window to Elena.

"No, not our baby… I can see the Salvatores, that couple trying to steal our money! Oh, this is great, babe, if I wave my arm, that means they're having their baby," he explained, oblivious to Elena's constant contractions and pain.

Freya and Elena exchanged looks.

"I don't care about the money anymore. Hey Ty, come here," Elena reached out to Tyler.

"You're disturbing her calm zone!" Freya snapped.

Tyler walked back to the bed, glaring at Freya. " _You're disturbing my calm zone_! What?"

Elena grabbed Tyler by the lining of his V-neck shirt and pulled him to her level.

"I need you to _focus_ , Ty. I'm trying to squeeze a baby out of my _fucking vagina_!" Elena yelled.

Tyler swallowed in nervous agreement, and Elena released his shirt.

He returned to the blinds and heard Freya say: "Swearing helps, but now we're going to use our words, ok?" Elena agreed, and soon they were both back in the calm zone.

 _When your back's against the wall_

 _Just turn around and you're gonna see_

 _I'll catch, I'll catch your fall_

 _Just have a little faith in me_

Tyler saw into the other room, and overheard Meredith Fell tell Damon it was time for his girls to go with their Grams. He couldn't imagine how they must all be feeling – scared, excited, anxious. Fighting over the money had been stressful for both families, and now, with both women in labour, there was a chance either of them could walk away richer, but guilt washed over him.

They'd wasted so much time competing with each other, they'd forgotten to support their partners in the most crucial parenting event – the birth of their children. Standing at the window gave Tyler perspective, and newfound faith. Two lives would be brought into hospital, provided there weren't complications. He was scared shitless.

Damon kissed Bonnie and picked up his children, taking them outside.

Tyler wondered if he would ever be a good as dad, as he.

"Love you," Bonnie called. "Okay girls, next time I see you, you're going to have a baby sister!" Bonnie beamed, doing a bit of a bed-dance, as Freya made her comfortable.

"Bye mummy!" Damon said on behalf of his girls, who said goodbye and blew kisses.

Before closing the blinds, Tyler gave Damon a 'best of luck' nod and half a smile, then returned to Elena's bed, and began to hum, Elena squeezed his fingers so hard he thought he heard them break.

"Very good you are the channel," Freya reminded Elena.

"I am the perfect channel," Elena clenched her teeth in pain. "Change the channel, change it!" Elena hissed, grabbing Tyler's wrist, and giving him a Chinese burn.

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

Caroline's heart fluttered, no matter how angry she stayed at him, and how much she wished she could walk away forever, his voice was like a siren, pulling her back in. Not that she owed him anything, but because she enjoyed his performances, Caroline stood on the balcony, where she could hear the public's roar of approval and see Klaus more clearly.

It only took a moment of a chance, Klaus' eyes met hers, and a smile crept upon his features – a sense of relief – she cared enough to hear him sing. That was progress. Hayley had been right.

 _'Cause I've been loving you_

 _For such a long time, girl_

 _Expecting nothing in return_

 _Except for you to have a little faith in me_

Hope pushed through the crowded streets of Times Square asking anyone who could help whether she'd made it to 54th street. She'd paused to send a text to Riley, telling him 'to save her a kiss', before her battery died for good. Adrenaline kept her focussed, there was no time to worry about being grounded, that was inevitable, for now all she wanted was to see the Ball Drop with her friends.

 _You see time, time is our friend_

 _But for us there is no end_

 _All you got to do_

 _Is, baby, have a little bit of faith in me_

Hayley shouted Hope's name. The square was like a menagerie, people crammed between cordoned off areas, with a row of police in high-vis and bullet-proof vests. Crowds made her nervous, and although Klaus' voice gave her some comfort, it did not ease her worries – somewhere, amongst the millions was her daughter, and she needed to find her.

 _You see that I will, hold you up_

 _I will hold you up long_

 _All you gotta do is_

 _Have a little faith in me_

Christmas lights blinked above Mikael's bed, Sara had hung them as an alternative to going outside.

Mikael looked up at Sara. "You're so good, you always were."

Sara smiled, fixing his blankets. "I'm your nurse, I'm supposed to take care of you."

Mikael wheezed. "I've been thinking about the ball drop and how that always used to be our thing. Remember when I took you for the first time? We watched the ball drop together, remember? It was our night. I promised you we'd go again. Well, it's a promise I didn't live up to. I'm sorry. Why did I leave you?" Mikael's eyes began to water.

Sara rested her hand on his shoulder, jogging his memory.

"Mikael, I'm Sara. Remember? Nurse Sara..." He stared at her, his mouth opened and closed, and she saw regret flood from his eyes. He nodded, rolled onto his side and fell silent.

 _You see time, is our friend_

 _Oh Baby_

Caroline had to get back to her truffles, she didn't have time to hear the rest of Klaus' song, and next he looked, she'd gone, and with it, went his smile and his hope. He turned to the crowd, each willing to carry his lyrics on their tongues, whilst he sipped some water. His eyes travelled across the square, and he wondered whether Hayley had found Hope yet.

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

The Bennett's caravan pulled up outside Ansel's records. Elijah Mikaelson was relieved to have arrived before the Ball dropped. He shook hands with Jonas, received brief hugs from Lucy and Bree, and kissed Emily's cheek.

"It's been great meeting you all and seeing how the other half lives," he said, adjusting his scarf, as the cool wind touched his neck.

Jonas nodded, and smiled, "You seem to have a fun life, remember, follow your heart!" he said.

Elijah waved goodbye and hoped his mother could forgive him for being a little late.

 _Have a little faith in me_

 _Have a little faith in me_

Klaus' voice faded, and his fans' screams subsided.

His new year's resolution was to reunite with his family – they were all he had left.

* * *

Katherine finished decorating the lift with tinsel Jeremy had confiscated, making the lift become somewhat decent looking – now that tinsel sparkled beneath the glow of his mobile phone. He had pegged the drawing he did of her on the mesh – much to Katherine's embarrassment, and he, unbeknown to him at first, kept humming 'Have a little faith in me' every now and then.

Katherine had joked they could have their own party, since it was clear nobody would be saving them anytime soon, since they'd been stuck in the elevator for what felt like hours, on New Year's. Jeremy hadn't welcomed the idea, not that he had lost hope someone would rescue them, but because the idea had only transported him back to his break-up, and his depression.

"I don't think so," he groaned.

Katherine grabbed some props from his pretty much empty garbage bag.

"Oh, come on, we've got to do something to get you out of this funk!" Katherine urged. "We're at a party," she gives him some paper glasses, wearing a crown herself. "We're standing on opposites sides of the room, we've never met, and the countdown begins," she smiles. "You scan the room for cute girls, amongst a sea of couples. Ten, nine," she giggles when Jeremy mimes her instructions.

"Eight, seven… there you are" Jeremy points to Katherine, who gives him a roll of her eyes, but continues with her spiel.

"You see me, our eyes meet, we smile tentatively at each other - _tentatively,"_ she laughs, as Jeremy entertained her by pulling faces. "Finally, we meet," she held his gaze in the centre of the lift.

"Five, four," Jeremy smirks, waiting for further instructions.

"-Just as it's about to be midnight," Katherine whispers. "Three, two," They gravitate into each other's personal space, with only their breaths as background noise.

Jeremy leaned down, hands hovered against her hips.

Katherine touched one hand to his chest, feeling his erratic heartbeat.

She looked up into his eyes "One," she would have tasted his lips if it weren't for the rude jolt of the elevator coming to life, making them both jump apart in fright.

"Now you come," Jeremy muttered, looking at the curious faces looking in.

"See, I told you, in just eight hours," Alaric Saltzman said to a group of impatient tenants.

Jeremy felt a rush of cool air blast his face, pulling him from their fantasy to reality.

Mr Saltzman's eyes dart between Jeremy and Katherine, who was first to compose herself.

"Phone's broken," Katherine pulled on her red coat, and hurried to her event.

"Hey, you didn't uh, you know? That's not why we put the bench in," Alaric frowned.

"No, no, it isn't like that," Jeremy shook his head, hoping to catch up with Katherine.

Katherine fixed her hair, and they engaged in awkward small talk, aware of the lift's listening ears.

"Looks like you might still make your gig," Jeremy said, glancing at his watch.

"Yeah, with or without me, so I really should get going," Katherine smiled, adjusting her lanyard.

Katherine's eyes fluttered to his lips then back to his earnest expression.

"See ya," Jeremy managed, with a pathetic wave, before returning to the elevator.

Katherine nodded, and smiled, "Yeah, happy new – I'll see ya," she smiled, running for her train.

Jeremy almost missed the elevator, watching Katherine leave.

"Hold the elevator, _sorry_ ," he squeezed through the gap, hoping to watch Die Hard 2, when he returned to his flat, then happened to glance at the floor at a bit of tinsel, noticing Katherine had dropped her lucky bracelet - "WAIT!" he yelled, even though Katherine was likely out of earshot.

* * *

Kol parked them close to the ball drop. Camille's blond hair blew around her face, she was eager to explore her surroundings, and Kol received her helmet for what would be the last time. He smiled, he'd actually miss her, and her crazy bucket list, he thought.

"Hey, good luck with that last one, alright?" Kol added, pointing to the list in her hand.

Camille rolled her eyes. "Oh, I figured that was a long shot going in," she admitted.

Kol threw his hands in the air.

"Long shot? What are you talking about? Going to Bali, that was a long shot."

Camille laughed, leaving Kol amused.

She rummaged through her bag and gave him the VIP tickets, he'd almost forgotten about.

"Make a list of your own. Don't wait as long as I did," Camille warned, almost bouncing on her heels in anticipation of watching the Ball Drop with the rest of the menagerie.

Kol genuinely thanked her, then made a mental note to check if Jeremy had called.

"Have a great time!" Kol shook Camille's hand, and wished her a Happy New Year.

Camille gave him one last wave over her shoulder before she melted into the crowd.

Kol saluted, already missing her on the back of his scooter, and went to find Hayley and Hope.

 **A/N: Thanks all for your feedback, which part did you enjoy the most? Please review.**


	5. Truffles and Fine Wine

**Disclaimer: Not mine, burrowed and nurtured. Big thanks to the writers of NYE movie for writing some of the funniest/saddest scenes and making this an easy fic adaption. A/N: Final instalment! Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and cheers to 2020! R &R x**

 **Truffles and Fine Wine**

 **5.**

Caroline stood with what was left of her private stash of chocolate truffles, listening to the cheers from the Gala guests unfold. She'd been creative, serving her popular truffles, tied to parachutes, dropped from the balcony, making it an unforgettable, magical night for all. She hoped Esther appreciated all her efforts - her future in catering depended on tonight going well.

Matt entered, hair askew, as though he'd been accosted for more truffles. She raised her eyebrows to which he threw his platter on the bench telling her 'they're raving about the food: a first for the music industry.' She beamed, finally achieving her career goal, and washed her hands beneath the faucet, eager to greet her guests.

The reviews had been good, but she had not yet heard from her ex-mother-in-law, Esther Mikaelson. Maybe that's why she was on edge, because despite her career, her future as a Mikaelson remained unclear, and she didn't want it to affect her professional performance. Gia walked inside, dressed in a blue ruffled dress, which presented her cleavage to the world.

"Wow! Where in the world is the rest of that dress?" Caroline asked.

Gia's eyes twinkled, alongside Matt's awed expression.

"New Years is all about the dress, you said we could change after dessert. There's nothing wrong with showing a little something…" her friend ran her hands though her wavy dark hair.

Caroline was impressed, and somewhat jealous.

"Oh, there's nothing little about those," she muttered, removing her apron.

Gia looked down to assess her assets. "Oh, did one fall off?"

Caroline arranged another platter of truffles, with a laugh.

"No, you look great, perfect in fact. These are the last truffles, then you're free," she said.

Gia picked up the platter. "You coming to celebrate with us?"

Caroline picked at the gold wrapper of another truffle.

"No, I think I'll call it a night," she said, biting into the liquored chocolate.

* * *

Sara plugged in her laptop and turned her _skype_ option to video call. She couldn't keep from tapping her foot against the chair in a nervous twitch. There was a beep, and a man appeared on the screen. She smiled, pleased to see her dad in military uniform. His green beret was placed to the side, and the bunker was crammed with tins of food and blankets.

"Sara, you look so beautiful. How are you?" Marcel asked, proud of his daughter.

Sara pulled her stethoscope from her neck, her dress still wrapped up in a bundle in her locker. She only had a short break, so there was no point changing. He'd been deployed to Syria a year ago, and so she had opted for working though the holidays to help support them until he returned.

"I miss you, I'm okay," Sara replied, seeing a five o'clock shadow on Marcel's jaw.

Marcel looked over his shoulder, the rest of his troops crowded around a small television. He grinned: "The guys are all watching New York. I tell 'em I'm better off, I'm watching you." Sara let her tears fall freely down her cheeks, taking in his dog tag, and wishing he was home.

"I miss you so much," she whispered. "But you're coming home soon, right?"

She forced a smile, wishing she could feel his arms around her.

"I hope so, baby. I miss you too." Marcel rested his hand against the screen, and she met it.

"I love you," she pressed.

"I love you more."

Sara sat staring into the screen, crying silent tears, long after her father went offline.

* * *

Caroline entered the Gala in her gold dress picked from a boutique store in New York, hoping she would not bump into Klaus again, she'd dropped enough hints for him to leave her alone. She overheard snippets of conversation from tipsy guests enjoying their night and noticed another Mikaelson in a tuxedo – Klaus' eldest brother, Elijah.

Esther descended on him, carrying a relaxed West Highland White puppy in the nook of her elbow. Elijah let her fuss over him, his tux pristine from wrinkles, although the sleeves a little too big, he still managed to pull it off. Esther had tears in her eyes, that tux had been passed on from her late husband, to Klaus and now Elijah – it was the same tux Klaus had worn at Caroline's wedding.

"Thank you for wearing Ansel's tuxedo, so handsome!" Esther cupped his cheek with a smile.

Elijah cleared his throat, looking around the event with an exasperated sigh. It was clear to Caroline this was the last place Elijah wanted to be for New Years Eve, but his loyalty to his family meant putting his needs aside for his business. Esther pointed to a group of girls tittering with their champagnes, Caroline gave them a wide berth.

"All your pretty little girls are here," Esther smiled, as Elijah guided his mother across the floor.

"Well, I'm starting to think I need something a little more than pretty girls with nothing to say."

Esther gave him a pat on the arm, "Did maturity just walk into the room?" she looked impressed.

Elijah shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, maybe not."

Caroline followed them, intent on hearing Esther's review – the only one that mattered.

"Excuse me, Mrs Mikaelson!"

Esther turned, surprised, and gave Caroline a warm look.

"Caroline, how many times have I told you, call me Esther. You will always be part of this family."

Caroline blushed a little at her kindness, and Elijah gave her a sad, but promising smile which prompted her to continue: "Was everything to your liking?" she asked.

Esther took Caroline's hands, taking in her anxious features.

"He was right, the food is amazing tonight," she smiled with an ominous look in her eye.

Caroline exchanged a confused look with Elijah, "Who was right?"

Elijah rested his hand on her shoulder, "Klaus told us to hire you, or he wouldn't sing tonight."

Esther nodded, and gave Caroline a well-deserved hug.

"I will recommend you to everyone I know, and I know a lot of people in this business!"

Caroline was still processing the news Klaus had gotten her this gig and managed a thank you. Maybe Klaus wasn't that selfish, maybe he was trying to change. Maybe, just maybe, she had him all wrong. Esther cupped her hand against Caroline's cheek, and gave her soft smile.

'You are strong, beautiful and full of light, Caroline, it's time people see that.'

Caroline let Esther's words sink in, reminded of Klaus: a mix of emotions swirled through her.

Esther steered Elijah to the stage, and asked: "Do you know what you're going to say?"

Elijah nodded, watching his guests begin to surround the stage, the chatter fading away.

"Yes, yes I do. I had a little help from some friends," he recalled the Bennetts.

Caroline stood with Esther, picking up a glass of champagne to toast with.

Elijah tapped the microphone, confident and calm. He thanked everyone for coming; thanked the chef – Caroline raised her glass, causing a spatter of applause. He thanked his family and friends, pausing to look out into the distance at the expectant faces of music producers and clients.

"Look, I'll try to keep it short this year because _Socrates_ gave long speeches, and his friends killed him. Anyway, those who knew my father knows he was a great man who created this business with love and care. _And we're thinking of you, Ansel._ He always ended with a quote: 'what would you do today if you knew you wouldn't fail?' And he'd say, 'then go out and do it.' You know where he got that from? My mother, Esther Mikaelson." Elijah raised his glass. "Let me finish with this, as we try to move forward in life, sometimes it's okay to listen to your heart. I know it's risky, but take that leap of faith, and watch your life change for the better. Happy New Year's Eve everybody!"

Caroline took a sip of champagne and heeded Elijah's words, she had to listen to her heart.

* * *

Rebekah bit her nails, attempting to keep her anxiety at bay and her stomach from hurling. It was an hour until midnight and still the ball was frozen, with Lorenzo rewiring the lights. She'd had another talk with Isobel, the mayor, who admitted her speech was eloquent, but would not save her job if the ball wasn't fixed in time.

Rebekah explained she'd been watching the Ball drop since she was a child – she was not going to let anyone down! What she needed was to keep the crowd busy, entertained, whilst Lorenzo worked. She called over Diego and Thierry. "Keep them happy, do the wave or something. I have to find my brother, Klaus." Vincent pointed to a SUV nearby, its windows tinted, and the door wide open.

"Klaus is here, but he's not happy," he advised.

"Why would he be, it's only New Year's Eve?" Rebekah sighed.

She walked over to the open door and peered inside the darkness.

"Nik, what seems to be the problem? You're needed on stage in ten minutes."

Klaus looked up from the back seat, a half empty whisky bottle in his hand.

"Boy meets girl, boy screws up, boy loses girl," he frowned.

"It's New Year's Eve, anything is possible tonight," Rebekah said, hoping to instil some hope.

Klaus threw his empty bottle onto the seat beside him, running his calloused hands through his hair. She had never seen him this low, it was like he'd finally accepted he'd never be good enough for Caroline. Rebekah sighed, hating to see her brother down. She took his hand and squeezed it.

"Not this time, Bekah. I really hurt her, and I don't know what else to do."

Rebekah understood, and she had some advice, something to relate to.

"Maybe all this is too much for her? Maybe all she wants, is to not have to share you with the rest of the world?"

Klaus squeezed Rebekah's hand and pressed his forehead against hers.

"How did you become so wise?" he muttered.

Rebekah shrugged, "Years of practice. Look, second chances don't expire until midnight, you've got time to fix things with Caroline, and I'm going to fix the Ball drop, but there's something else, _someone else_ , and I don't want what I have to say to change anything between us. Mikael's dying, Nik, and I want to see him, before it's too late. I know what he did, and it doesn't mean I forgive him, but I do think it's important not to be alone on New Year's Eve."

Klaus stared at her, then climbed out of his seat, his hands either side of her shoulders.

"I forbid you to see him. He deserves to die alone."

Rebekah was left to contemplate her choices, as Klaus climbed the stage, greeting his fans.

* * *

Jeremy Gilbert hurried down the street in his slippers and dressing gown, oblivious to the looks from people of all ages – he was on a mission, to find Katherine Pierce. The streets were packed, and the wind carried a chill in it, as though it could dump snow at any time. He saw a flicker of a red dress and leather jacket, and people wearing lanyards, he must be close - "Hey, 5B!"

Katherine stopped and turned, curious to see him grinning at the bottom of the stage stairs.

"How did you get in?" she seemed happy to see him, and curious.

Jeremy climbed the staircase, brandishing his own lanyard that read: DRUMMER.

"They think I'm Klaus' drummer," he admitted with a wince.

Katherine raised her eyebrows, keeping a smile at bay. "Why would they think that?"

Jeremy shrugged, "Because I told them I was." Katherine laughed, crossing her arms to keep warm. "You left this in the elevator, and I didn't know if it was lucky… or a balance thing, so if you dance while you're singing, you'll need your balance." Jeremy blurted, dropping her bracelet into her palm.

"You came all this way to give me my good luck charm bracelet?"

Jeremy felt her eyes boring into his soul and he was unable to keep it together. She saw right through him and always had. He was only a step away from her, and he could hear the real drummer doing sound check, the other singers humming into the microphones, and security moving in.

"Sort of, and to say, Happy New Year," he pocketed his hands into his dressing gown.

Katherine accepted his lame cover-up with a smile which made his heart burst with love. He only had seconds before they parted ways, but he didn't want their chance meeting to end.

"And you also left something else in the elevator," he let his fleeting confidence lead him, and kissed her, taking that leap of faith, he'd heard Elijah Mikaelson say on tv. Katherine beamed into their first kiss, and touched his cheek, treasuring their brief connection.

"Glad you remembered that," she whispered. "I've got to go, but please stay for the show."

"For you, I will be your groupie," Jeremy said, pressing his hand to his heart.

* * *

Caroline had stuffed a few cherry centred truffles into her mouth, after excusing herself from the Gala, where she'd left Matt and Gia dancing the waltz. Footsteps made her panic. She grabbed a handful of serviettes and spat out the delicious mess, running her tongue across her front teeth, she had to be professional and presentable.

Klaus swaggered into her personal space, smelling of whiskey. "Kitchen still open?"

Of course, he'd want some dinner, or a sandwich or something, just like old times, she sighed.

"For dessert it is," Caroline snapped, relaxing her stance. "So, you talked to Esther about me?" she said, waiting for a confession.

Klaus shrugged, blocking her exit, "I really wanted to talk to you, since you were avoiding me."

"I'm glad we had a chance to talk," Caroline replied, busying herself with her errands.

Klaus picked up a truffle. "I'm cancelling the tour," he confessed, testing the waters.

Caroline dropped the containers onto the bench with a clash.

"Why?" she breathed, his music was good; he'd just proved that to the world.

Klaus smiled, "Because of you, best decision I ever made was asking you to marry me in Paris. Worst decision was leaving you, and I know this catering business is important to you. So, if you'll have me, I want to support you, and I'll be here to regain your forgiveness." He put the truffle into the container and helped to pack them away.

Caroline blinked, speechless by his sudden confession and need to support her.

"Well, we could be old and grey before I choose to forgive you."

Klaus shrugged, "I'll wait, however long it takes."

Caroline pressed the lids down on the containers.

"It could be years of makeup sex, before I forgive you."

Klaus rested his chin on her shoulder, "I'll suffer."

Caroline bit her bottom lip, his close proximity undoing her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, and she let go of all the hurt and pain he'd caused. She took a leap of faith and faced him. Klaus looked unsure at first, worried, like he'd overstepped again. She counted her erratic heartbeats: one, two, three, four.

"It's almost midnight, wanna dance?" she asked, offering her hand.

Klaus bowed, and recreated what would have been their wedding dance. There were no witnesses, just a young girl in a red dress singing _Auld Lang Syne_ to millions of people at Times Square, whilst Klaus held Caroline's hand and spun her on the spot, promising to love her for all of eternity, and until he'd earned her forgiveness.

* * *

Rebekah returned to the ball to see Lorenzo grinning, and relief flooded through her tight chest. She shook hands, thanked him for fixing the Ball, and left him in charge of the rest of operations – Vincent was right, they didn't need her to stay. She hugged Thierry and Diego, and before she could hug Vincent, his wife and daughter arrived - a special surprise for helping her through the stress of her job. She waved to Sophie, who carried their four-year-old daughter, Ivy in her arms.

"Happy New Year, Vincent," Rebekah offered her hand.

Vincent took off his police cap, his voice wavered with emotion.

"Thank you, and the mayor wants to see you."

Rebekah picked up her purse. "Tell Isobel, I'm sorry but I've another pressing matter to attend."

* * *

Elijah sat at the bar accompanied by the 'pretty girls' he'd dissed to his mother. He felt like a sham, having ignored his better judgement to make his mother happy, but the longer he sat there making polite conversation, the harder it was to fake having a good time. He needed to follow his own advice and take a leap of faith – if only to escape the clutches of these women.

Elijah thought of last year's Gala and he was transported to a different life. He missed his friend Stefan, the smell of pepperoni and pancetta, Davina's lucky chardonnay and the sound of his fingers on the piano. He even missed the woman who could be the love of his life, if he let her. He stood up from his chair, removed the tentacles from his suit, and told the 'pretty girls' the truth – he had to go, and his heart lifted, he would not be wasting his life anymore.

Elijah didn't bother with a taxi, sprinting down the street. The cold air would do him good, and he had to think – he just bailed his mother's Gala, but at least he'd said his speech first. Maybe she'd forgive him if he brought Hayley home? Elijah passed a clock on the street and checked the time – there was half an hour until midnight.

"Elijah?" Rebekah looked surprised, rubbing her gloved hands to keep warm.

"What are you doing here?" he hugged her, relieved to see family.

She pointed to the hospital, "I had to see him, I'm sorry."

Elijah let the pieces fall into place and he nodded, understanding Rebekah's battle with morality.

"Don't be, Happy new Year, Bekah." He kissed her cheek. "May you be happy."

Rebekah wiped tears away, "And you, may you get everything you wish for."

* * *

"I'm not going to leave you alone," Sara held Mikael's frail hand, watching the man deteriorate.

Rebekah entered, permitted to enter by the policeman standing guard.

"He's not alone," she held onto her coat like a comforter. "Hi daddy."

Mikael looked up from his death bed, his spirits rose at the sight of his youngest daughter.

"Hello Bekah, did we miss it?"

Rebekah shook her head, but they didn't have much time. Sara squeezed Rebekah's shoulder and shut the door, convincing the policeman to leave his post for a cup of tea. Rebekah found a wheelchair outside that hadn't been there before. She sent a grateful smile in Sara's wake.

"We've got about five minutes to get onto the roof," she said, helping Mikael into the chair, putting her coat over his legs to keep him warm.

Sara glimpsed Rebekah and Mikael enter the lift, glad to have granted a dying man's last wish.

* * *

"We made it!" Rebekah said, leaving the wheelchair parked in front of the ball drop.

"Yeah, it's our thing," Mikael gasped, looking up to squeeze her hand. "Do you want me to put you on my shoulders?" Rebekah shook her head, sadly. "I've made so many mistakes… but you weren't one of them." Mikael went silent, taking in the view.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" Rebekah worried, as he took off his beanie.

"Nothing like New York air," Mikael muttered. "Look, there it goes!" he pointed.

Rebekah tried to smile through the thick tears.

This was all she ever wanted, to be able to watch the ball drop with her father one last time.

* * *

Camille stood in the middle of Times Square listening to everyone counting down. She was surrounded by the buzz of elevated spirits. She took in her surroundings, the ball-drop above, large skyscrapers either side with giant advertising for Sherlock and Toshiba. She watched a group of teenagers nearby, a boy of fifteen looking around for his date.

"Have you seen Hope? I can't see her anywhere, Lizzie?" the boy asked near the barrier.

"No, I haven't seen her, Riley," Lizzie responded, but Camille noticed she didn't look worried.

The boy turned his head and Lizzie planted a kiss on his rigid body. Unable to look away, Camille watched the drama unfold. Another girl, Hope, Camille presumed, pushed through the crowd, excited to reach her friend, then her spark of happiness was yanked from her.

"Hope!" Riley left Lizzie behind, trying to reach her, but the crowd was getting busier.

Camille watched a devastated Hope run into her mother's waiting arms, crying heavily.

People around her began to pair up. Camille knew there was no chance in hell she'd tick off her final wish – but that was okay, she had learned more about herself in those last two days, than she had her whole life, and it was all due to taking a leap of faith. Fireworks showered the night sky.

Nothing could top this, she thought.

Somebody grabbed her. Kol, pulling tickertape from his mouth, grinned, and before she had time to wonder his intentions, he'd dipped and kissed her. She barely had time to process it, as soon as it had happened, he'd pulled away. Camille spluttered her indignation – she was twice his age!

"Final resolution; midnight kiss on New Year's Eve. Boom! Check it off!" he grinned.

Camille couldn't believe she had accomplished everything she ever wanted and made a new friend along the way. She saw he still held her Gala tickets and wondered what had changed his mind.

"What happened to your friend?" she asked, curious.

Kol made a face, "He hasn't been answering my calls, so I thought we should go together?"

"Like a date?" Camille queried.

Kol grinned, "Like, as friends?" He held out his hand, and Camille took it - maybe it was because there was magic in the air, but whatever the reason, she felt a bit rebellious, like a teenager again.

They turned, stopping when Kol recognised the teenager arguing with her mother.

"I'm fine, mum, he just caught me off guard," Hope said, gathering herself.

Hayley cupped her daughter's cheeks in her gloved hands, squishing them a little.

"I was so scared of losing you-" she whispered.

"-I know, I'm sorry, but you should go to you party, mum. I'll be fine, I have Josie."

Hayley oblivious to their watching eyes, sighed, eager to tell her daughter what she'd learned.

"And you should be with your friends, that's what I wanted to tell you."

Hope's joy sent her back in her mother's arms. "I love you, mum!"

Hayley sighed, "I love you too, but you're still grounded. Hi Kol, who is this?"

Kol introduced Cami to his family, his sister-in-law, Hayley, and niece, Hope.

Camille was super aware she was still holding Kol's hand and felt him squeeze her fingers.

"Nice to meet you," Hayley said shaking Cami's other hand.

Kol pointed to the exit, "We're off to the Gala, don't wait up, and don't forget to pick up your dress."

Hayley gave Kol a surprised look, to which he dug around his leather jacket and gave her a ticket.

"You can thank me later," he grinned, ruffling Hope's hair so it fell out of her ponytail.

Kol dragged Camille out of the crowd, with Hope yelling 'Have fun on your date!' making him blush.

Kol waved her goodbye without looking, and drove Camille back to the theatre, where he'd promised they could get changed for the Gala – there were loads of fancy clothes waiting to be worn. Camille held onto him, she was less cautious, he noticed, and more comfortable. Maybe the kiss had broken the ice between them – or maybe it had ignited something else entirely?

* * *

Damon and Tyler stood in the hallway processing their children's births. Freya stood with a clipboard in hand, recording their children's birth details. Damon shook Tyler's hand, cautious to know whose baby had been born first – and thus won the $25 million dollars.

Tyler peered into Bonnie's room to see his daughters crowded around the new baby. Their faces filled with awe and excitement. Tyler understood in that moment, the need to abandon his quest.

"Congratulations, boy or girl?" he asked Damon.

Damon grinned, "Girl, third one, 12.04am. Yours was… when?" his smile faltered in anticipation.

Tyler turned to look at Elena nursing their son and smiled knowing his answer: "12.05am."

Damon clapped Tyler's shoulder, managing a thank you, almost overcome with emotion.

Elena looked up with Freya, and they both smiled, making Tyler blink back tears of pride.

"12.05am it is then," Freya said, watching the two families put aside their differences.

* * *

Jeremy watched Katherine laugh as she received standing ovation from the crowds at Times Square. He mouthed 'I love you' complete with a dorky air heart, which only made her pause to tap her lucky bracelet. He waited until she was off-stage before asking if she wanted to go out for 'warm' coffee.

Katherine took his hand, bumping her shoulder playfully against his, and said: "I know a great place."

Jeremy took out his phone, noticing several miscalls and a text from Tyler. He paused, listening to Kol's ever annoyed voicemails, having forgotten completely to fill him in on his adventure. He'd make it up to him later. As for hearing Elena was in hospital having her first child, he pulled Katherine in the opposite direction.

"How do you feel about hospital cafeterias?"

Katherine gave him a confused look. Jeremy answered it by showing the text Tyler sent him.

 _Lucas John Lockwood,_

 _your nephew wants to meet you_

 _bring coffee - Ty_

* * *

Freya put her clipboard on the desk for Meredith to enter into the system. She found Sara sipping on coffee with Josh, the constable assigned to Mikael's room, their voices low, accompanied with glum expressions. Freya walked by his empty room, finding the sheets folded and the room in pristine condition – she found Rebekah sitting in the wheelchair holding a zip lock bag filled with their father's belongings – she wished she could have been there.

"Rebekah? I'm sorry." Rebekah hugged her big sister, sobbing gently into her shoulder.

""Would you like to see what we do on New Year's Eve?" Meredith asked.

Rebekah looked up from her father's Vietnam dog tag, a roll of Kodak film, and a photograph of herself as a toddler sitting on her father's shoulders: he looked so happy then. She sniffed back tears and nodded. Meredith led her to the Maternity ward, where two babies lay in pink and blue cuddly blankets. Meredith picked up a baby girl, and whispered: "Isn't she beautiful?"

"What's her name?" Rebekah asked, the baby was light as a feather with thick brown curls.

"Daisy Sheila Bennett."

"Your daddy loves you," Rebekah whispered.

* * *

Hope entered the Waffle house with Josie, holding hands. Violet waved at them from her table, her mum sitting at a nearby booth with Pride and Prejudice in her grasp, and a hot mug of coffee. Hope wondered if she had her dad to thank after her mother's change in perspective, she hoped he had mended things with Caroline. _Heartbreak was a bitch!_

"Hope, you made it," Riley's eyes lit up at Hope's entrance with Josie.

Hope raised her hand, still hurt. "Whatever, I saw you kissing Lizzie."

Lizzie was in the line perusing the menu, MG by her side.

"It was probably for the attention more than anything else, you know what she's like." Josie said.

Hope left Riley to mull with his apology and went to order.

Josie watched Lizzie and MG move from the counter, laughing about something unrelated.

"I know what it feels like, when Penelope dumped me, I thought I'd never get over her. But love always finds a way. So, we don't have to stay, if you don't want to." Josie said taking her hand.

Hope squeezed it, "Thanks Josie, but I'm fine."

Josie gave her a worried glance, as they were called to the front of the cashier.

Hope felt a hand on her arm, Riley wanted to talk in private. She only went with him because the spell of maple syrup was making her head spin.

"Look, I'm telling you the truth, she stole it from me, Hope."

Hope rolled her eyes. "Stole it, yeah that makes perfect sense," she scoffed.

Riley looked agitated. "Look, I'll show you, I was just watching the ball drop and then-" he leaned forward to kiss her cheek, but she moved her head, catching his lips, her hands placed on his shoulders, showing him exactly what he missed out on, not that he deserved it. "- woah."

Hope shrugged, playing it down, and wiped his saliva from her mouth. "Bye Riley."

* * *

Elijah ran down the pavement, a bottle of Moet in hand, his white scarf billowing behind him.

The Pizzeria was boarded up and sold – his heart was heavy, but it made sense, since his friends Davina and Stefan had gone to Italy for their honeymoon. The little slice of paradise was no more, the same was for his date.

The streets were deserted, with most of New York's population in Times Square to see his brother perform. Maybe Hayley had changed her mind? Maybe it was too complicated? Whatever they had shared a year ago was to stay a fantasy. He waited for what felt like hours, then when he was ready to give up, he placed the champagne on a crate and left it for some lucky person to find it.

Maybe it would make somebody else's day – he didn't need it anymore.

He turned to leave, heavy hearted, and heard a horse-drawn carriage. He was transported back to a world where pumpkins and glass slippers and a magic existed, and he held his breath in anticipation, knowing there was a chance his wish might come true, because in that moment he believed in _serendipity._ Elijah nodded to the driver, a woman with frizzy black hair holding the reigns.

The carriage halted, and Elijah watched the brunette descend the steps, wearing silver stilettos, and a silver ballgown dress – he was almost speechless with surprise.

"You showed up-"

"-You showed up-"

"-You look incredible-"

"-Well, I had a year to get ready, and some help from my fairy godbrother."

Elijah didn't wait for the other shoe to drop, he took his leap of faith and kissed her, one hand caressing the side of her face, never wanting to let go for fear she'd disappear again.

* * *

Camille rifled through racks of vintage clothing, while Kol changed into a navy suit behind the men's rack. She couldn't believe she had agreed to this, but to be fair, she had enjoyed Kol's company. She threw on a lace white dress, maybe this Gala wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"Decided yet?" Kol asked, tying his shoelaces. "We don't want to miss the party."

Camille emerged with one tiny problem – she couldn't do up the button on the back of her dress.

"Can you help me with this button?" she asked, moving her hair aside to show her backless dress.

Her breathe caught in her lungs as Kol's fingers brushed against her skin, fumbling with the button.

"Cami..." he murmured. "We're going to be late..."

"Your tie is crooked," Camille noted, aware of how close they were.

Kol swallowed, struggling with his better judgement. He tucked a stray piece of blond hair behind her ear. Camille caught his hand, half terrified and half excited by the opportunity it represented. She smiled, hoping to ease their nerves. She made the first move, removing his jacket, and unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his chest. Her lips met his in a sweet, testing-the-waters kiss. Then eagerness and desire lifted her spirits, her hands comfortably around his neck and Kol reciprocated, tenderness igniting her passion. Kol's hands slipped beneath her dress, sending her eyes to the heavens, and taking her breath away.

Then he pulled away, the rush of air between them startled Cami from her fantasy.

"As much as I'd love to undress you, I think we shouldn't forget our date?" He picked up their Gala tickets. Camille pouted. "Trust me, it will be _unforgettable_." He scooped up the masks he'd found.

"I trust you," Camille said. "Besides, if you behave, I'll treat you to something else _unforgettable_."

Kol hailed a taxi, and they listened to the _Auld Lang Syne_ live from Times Square hands entwined.

* * *

 _Don't be fancy, just get dancy_

 _Why so serious?_

When they arrived at the Gala, Camille watched Kol in his element. He grooved to the music, making a sliding entrance into the party he'd been so keen to join. Something made Camille hesitate, suddenly aware of their age difference, and insecurities, until Kol rolled his eyes, and carried her over the barrier. He deposited her over the barrier and jumping it himself, offered his hand - she took it, realizing they made a good team, and she didn't care who knew.

 _So, raise your glass if you are wrong_

 _In all the right ways, all my underdogs_

 _We will never be, never be anything but loud_

Caroline danced with Klaus, laughing at his jokes and enjoying their renewed love affair. He twirled her on the dance floor and caught her in his arms, it was Caroline who decided to wrap her arms around him, and kiss him, forgiveness in her heart.

 _And nitty, gritty, dirty, little freaks_

 _Won't you come on and come on and_

 _Raise your glass!_

Kol laughed at Camille's lame dance moves, and she beamed at his efforts to make her look cooler. She saw Matt and Gia having a drink at the bar, and recognised Hope and Josie, sipping ginger ales, with Hayley and Elijah at a nearby table, tucking into chocolate truffles.

 _Just come on and come on and_

 _Raise your glass!_

Keelin led the horses back to the stables of the Mikaelson estate, with Sherlock and Charlie at her heels. She met Freya in the driveway, surprised to see her home so early, and with a guest. Rebekah received a hug, and condolences from her sister-in-law, and an invitation to stay a while.

Freya smiled and kissed her wife, "How was your day?" she asked.

Keelin hugged her back, "Adventurous, but it's good to be home. I've got the slow-cooker on."

* * *

 **EPILOGUE**

Daisy and Lucas crawled about the grass of the Lockwood Mansion, without a worry in the world. Their doting fathers close-by, the groom and his best man. Bonnie and Elena; maid of honour; and bride, discussed their futures. Elijah's piano playing was accompanied by Hayley's singing, wedding toasts by Jeremy and Katherine. Sheila Bennett kept everyone grounded, with Stefan and Davina waiting tables, and Caroline catering – it was a wonderful affair.

Sara set up Marcel with Rebekah, and the two lost souls hit it off straight away. It was Klaus who tapped his glass and raised it – with Caroline unveiling his wedding portrait. He looked over at his daughter, Hope, and smiled, _'So many things you can't control in life, forgiveness, second chances, fresh starts. Love in any of its forms, love gives us hope. Hope for the new year. Hope and a great party. So, congratulations Tyler and Elena, and we wish you all the love and hope in the world -treasure it, always and forever.'_

There was a sea of applause and Tyler kissed his wife, ready to spend the rest of his life by her side.

 **A/N: Apologies for the delay, feel free to check out my Legacies Drabbles and other fics x**


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